School, work hours may change to ease traffic

Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel has raised the possibility of changing school hours to help ease the worsening morning and afternoon traffic congestion.

Mr Immanuel highlighted this during the 2026-2027 national budget public consultation at the Fiji National University (FNU) Nasinu Campus on Wednesday evening.

Mr Immanuel said flexible working hours for civil servants and changes to school hours could help reduce peak-hour gridlock.

"If we can change school times as well, both work and school hour changes are better for people because we can improve on them," he said.

His comments came in response to concerns raised about daily traffic jams along key roads, pointing out that rising fuel prices made stop-and-go driving even more costly for ordinary Fijians.

However, the teachers' union and association told this masthead yesterday that any changes must be carefully thought through first.

Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) general secretary Muniappa Goundar urged caution, saying any change required a proper study of how many children travelled from outside Suva to city schools with their parents.

" First you need to get the visibility – how many children from that side are coming to Suva schools, what is the arrangement if they are coming with their parents" Mr Goundar said.

"Easy to say we can, but we need to look at the consequences – how the parents are going to suffer, the children are going to suffer, the security for the kids – all these need to be considered."

He also added that teachers' working hours and lunch-duty obligations also had to be factored in before any decision was made.

Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) general secretary Paula Manumanunitoga said while the idea was not new, what mattered most was reducing the total number of school hours rather than simply shifting start times.

"What the Fijian Teachers Association would want is to lessen the number of school hours to help solve the congestion problem," Mr Manumanunitoga said.

He added that teachers were already struggling with paperwork, leaving less time for actual classroom teaching.

The Finance Minister also acknowledged that long-term upgrades to road infrastructure which includes widening key corridors near Suva, Nausori and Lami would take significant time and money.

Mr Immanuel added that multilateral partners were already helping fund key infrastructure including hospitals, water, wastewater and energy.

Efforts to get a response from Education Minister Aseri Radrodro were unsuccessful when this edition went to press.