Heads Of School Training On Minister’s Top Priority List

Training for heads of schools will be a priority for Premila Kumar.

The Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, in her response to the 2021-2022 Revised Budget announcement, said their training would be completed over the next couple of months.

Ms Kumar said it was imperative that the ministry continued to evolve and embrace technology to enhance learning and teaching.

“In order for us to achieve this, it is important that schools are connected to the internet,” she said.

“This was made possible through the Government’s initiative of connecting the unconnected communities by providing connectivity to 26 rural/remote schools in the Northern Division.

“Good education requires good school infrastructure, including teacher’s quarters.

“The ministry received an additional $2.4m for capital works in the Revised Budget to improve or build teacher’s quarters, ablution blocks and driveways leading to schools in remote rural schools.”

She said they would continue to encourage teachers to upgrade their qualification and its importance.

“The ministry has been allocated an additional $1.7m to increase the salaries of teachers who have upgraded their qualifications.”

She welcomed the new policy announcements and initiatives pertaining to Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Services (TSLS).

“Given the circumstances faced by Year 13 students, temporarily lowering the cut-off marks for TSLS awards to 250 except for the commerce category where the cut-off mark will be higher, will allow more students to enter tertiary institutions,” Ms Kumar said.

“The National Toppers’ Scheme’s (NTS) role is to enable the Government to strengthen sectors of the economy where employees are needed by providing scholarships for students seeking an education in those fields.

“It is to ensure the gaps in under-served economic sectors in Fiji are filled, so we have enough engineers, pharmacists, lab technicians, nurses, plumbers, electricians, plumbers, electricians, and agricultural specialists to keep our nation progressing and able to attend to the needs of Fijians in the future.

“We are investing in students, not just for them to attain higher education, but also making sure they get into areas which offer better job prospects and of course, meet Fiji’s needs.”