Education Issue 1:   
Free Pre-schools.

One of the Bainimarama Government’s good measures is that all students at primary and secondary school are able to obtain a certain minimum funding from tax-payers.  However, the funding should begin from pre-school.

I have shown in these two articles here, that the major beneficiaries of pre-school education are the poorest students whose homes do not have a good learning environment.  Moreover, the benefit that poor children receive at Pre-school or Early Childhood education, persist through later years of education.

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/pre-schools-and-the-poor-the-fiji-times-5-may-2003/

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/free-pre-schools-for-the-poor-the-fiji-times-30-july-2010/

Another gender benefit of ensuring free pre-school for poor and middle class children is that their mothers will be able to use the available time for income earning or professional development or much-earned leisure activities.

Voters should ask all political parties what their policies will be on

 All areas of  Fiji (rural and urban) where certain minimum numbers (to be decided by education stakeholders) of pre-school age children are located, should be funded to provide

(a) proper pre-school classrooms and teaching materials

 (b) pre-school teachers, preferably qualified, with unqualified teachers where absolutely necessary, with programs to ensure that they become qualified over time.

 (c) attendance should be totally free

Education Issue 2:   
Re-establish national examinations at schools at Year 8, Form 4, Form 6 and Form 7

The Bainimarama Government made a decision to phase out all national examinations.

I have previously explained the damaging consequences of this decision, here:

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/national-examinations-you-dont-know-what-you-have-got-till-it-is-gone-the-fiji-times-27-february-2010/

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/mr-bole-school-principals-and-the-ending-of-national-examinations-letter-to-the-editor-31-oct-2013-not-published/

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/ending-of-examinations-not-an-achievement-letter-to-editor-2-feb-2014-published-4-feb-2014/

Voters should ask all political parties what their policies will be on

(a)  Restoring the national examinations at Year 8, Form 4, Form 6 and Form 8.

(b)  retaining and strengthening the scarce curriculum, examinations and assessment staff at the Min of Education.

(c) Insist that the results of the national examinations are not used to “push” students out of the education system but to guide them in their areas of weaknesses and strengths and guide them into labour-market oriented training that suits their skills.

Education Issue 3:    
Lift Retirement Age from 55 to 60

One of the negative policies implemented by the Bainimarama Government has been the compulsory enforcement of the retirement age at 55.

This policy has not been applied to Bainimarama himself or to some members of his family or key supporters.

This policy has meant disastrous effects in schools and in many other parts of the civil service.

In education, qualified and experienced persons in senior positions in the education system as Head Teachers and Assistant Head Teachers, Heads of Departments and education experts in the Head Office, have been forced to retire and replaced by inexperienced persons.

Some have been renewed for short periods, but at the discretion of the Minister or higher up, often depending on “who you know”.

To add insult to injury, some retirees have been offered to other Pacific countries to assist with their shortages, raising the question: why is Fiji offering their services which they do not want themselves?

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/55-year-retirement-policy-by-bainimarama-government-24-oct-2013/

Voters should ask all political parties what their policies will be on

(a) Lifting the retirement age for all civil servants to 60

(b) with annual renewals thereafter depending on satisfactory medical examinations.

Education Issue 4:    
Schools must be allowed to raise funds independently, in addition to receiving the grants they currently receive.

I have explained previously in a Letter to the Editor, the irrationality of the Ministry of Education policy decision that schools must not raise funds independently.

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/an-irrational-education-policy-letter-to-ed-24-january-2014/

Voters should ask all political parties what their policies will be on allowing all schools to

(a) raise funds that the school management feel is necessary to achieve the standards that that they wish for, with the approval of the majority of the parents

(b) giving those parents who do not wish to take part in such fund-raising to go to other schools of their choice.

Education Issue 5:    
Education scholarships

While 600 scholarships are being offered to students completely on merit, indigenous Fijians, females and other minority groups  may not get a balanced proportion of these scholarships.

 Voters must ask all political parties what their policy would be on

(a) Making available additional scholarships that ensures a reasonable degree of  ethnic and gender balance in the total scholarships made available, especially for the important fields in which Fiji will require expertise into the future.

 (b) that there be  equity between those who receive scholarships and those who receive loans, with bonding requirements be the same for all categories of students assisted at tertiary level.
Source: http://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/election-issues-bulletin-2-education-27-february-2014/

Mukhtar was sacked from Telecom for allegedly sexually harassing female staff

Fijileaks understands that Fiji Directories Ltd CEO Mohammed Mukhtar Khan has been sent to China to relieve Esala Teleni who is tipped to either lead the RFMF or get back his Police Commissioner's job. A private limited liability company, Fiji Directories Limited is a joint venture between Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Ltd (ATH) (90%) and Edward H. O'Brien (Fiji) Pty Ltd (10%). Mukhtar Khan was appointed CEO, Fiji Directories in 2012.

Khaiyum misled the President on appointment of Aca Rayawa as DPP on 31st December 2009. Acts of Rayawa as DPP unlawful

By RAJENDRA CHAUDHRY

Much has been said about the calibre or lack of as it relates to Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, the Attorney General in the Bainimarama illegal regime. His tenure has been marked by one gaffe or another and when seeking of a description of him, the term “uber fool” comes to mind. William Hazlitt wrote: “There is no one thoroughly despicable. We cannot descend much lower than an idiot.” People of Fiji are now waking up to the idiot that is known as Khaiyum – a person who has little or no substance as a lawyer, let alone being the chief legal officer of Fiji.

Let me narrate a factual example of Khaiyum’s lack of intelligence and that related to the appointment of Aca Rayawa as Director of Public Prosecutions on 31 December 2009. The appointment of the DPP, prior to the 2014 Bainimarama constitution, was made pursuant to the State Services Decree 2009. The relevant part reads: State Services Decree 2009, Director of Public Prosecutions

20.-(1) This section establishes the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(2) The Director of Public Prosecutions must be a person who is qualified to be appointed as a judge.

(3) The Director of Public Prosecutions is appointed by the President, following consultation with the Attorney-General.

At the relevant time, the Aiyaz Khaiyum was the Attorney General and remains so. The President took Khaiyum’s counsel before naming Mr Rayawa as the DPP. Rayawa being ever so keen to please his military masters accepted the appointment and with letter in hand, he fronted his predecessor, the former DPP, John Rabuku, and gave him 45 minutes to clear the DPP’s office and this was under police guard and was escorted out of office by 3 police officers on New Year’s Eve 2009. Pursuant to section 20 (2) of the State Services Decree 2009 (supra), the DPP must be a person qualified to be a judge.

The Administration of Justice Decree 2009 lists the qualification/s of a judge as appointed to the Fijian judiciary. The relevant parts of this Decree read: 15. A person is not qualified for appointment as a judge unless he or she:
(a) holds, or has held, high judicial office in Fiji or in another country prescribed by law; or

(b) has had not less than 10 years practice as a barrister or solicitor or not less than 10 years post-admission legal or academic experience in Fiji or in another country prescribed by law. Aca Rayawa was admitted to the Fiji Bar in 2005. At the time of his purported appointment, he had only 5 years post admission experience as a barrister or solicitor. He thus could not qualify to be the DPP. His appointment, by the President, on the advice of Khaiyum was thus unlawful.

Even for acting appointment as a DPP, a person must have 10 years post admission experience as a barrister or solicitor. One cannot be appointed to the position without the requisite 10 year post admission qualification or having served prior as a judge in Fiji or another country. Such contemptuous advice to the President shows the stupidity of Khaiyum and confirms beyond doubt that he is the dumbest Attorney General Fiji has ever had and probably will have till September 2014 at the latest. His improper advice to the President, on Rayawa’s appointment, means that Rayawa’s appointment was unlawful and this being so, all duties that he performed as DPP would also be unlawful. This will now lead to a number of legal challenges, which will strain the already stretched judiciary.

Remember Khaiyum’s earlier act of extreme stupidity when he sought to appoint Adi Koila Nailatikau as the Chairperson of the Constituency Boundaries Commission, around 26 October 2007, when such appointment was clearly unlawful under the 1997 Constitution. In a statement issued on 26 October 2007, Khaiyum wrote: “Attorney General, Minister for Justice, Electoral Reforms & Anti-Corruption Mr Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has publicly apologized for making mistake in announcing Adi Koila Nailatikau as the Chairperson for the Constituency Boundaries Commission (CBC)." “This oversight was clearly one of my own doing,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. “I regret this oversight and regret that such a mistake was made. Needless to say, the provisions of the Constitution will always be adhered to,” he said.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said it was not a time to score political points but rather to move the country forward and facilitate the preparation for the elections. Under Section 77 of the Constitution, no person is not allowed to be appointed to the CBC if he or she has at any time during the immediately preceding four years been a member of either the Houses of Parliament, or a Local Authority or any other representative body prescribed by the Parliament or if she is a member of the State Service (Fiji Police Force or Republic of the Fiji Military Forces). My Sayed-Khaiyum said he had already spoken and apologized to Adi Koila and also apologized to the President Ratu Josefa Uluivuda Iloilo.” Khaiyum needs to be sacked.

He clearly has neither the ability nor the tenacity to perform the complex and legally challenging duties of the Attorney General. He is stupid beyond reason or rehabilitation.

His constant blunders, despite holding high office, remind me of the words of Stephen Vizinczey, who said: “Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.”

Fijileaks Editor: Rayawa nor Khaiyum could be reached for comments.

"The UFDF calls on Attorney General Sayed-Khaiyum to stay away from the Electoral Commission and let the Chairman & Board manage the Election process as they have been mandated to do, otherwise Commodore Bainimarama should ‘sack him’ for misconduct.

The United Front for a Democratic Fiji (UFDF) condemns in the strongest terms the attempts by the interim Attorney General, Mr Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, to interfere in the work of the independent Electoral Commission.

The UFDF said it applauded the chairman of the Commission Mr Chen Bunn Young for rejecting Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s call for two of its employees to be sacked immediately. Mr Young and his commissioners must be prepared to rebuff any attempts by the government to dictate to them and control their work. As we have previously stated before, the independence and integrity of the Commission was questionable and more so now with this incident.

They should remember what happened with the independent Yash Ghai constitutional commission. It complained of massive interference and pressure from both the interim Prime Minister and Mr Sayed-Khaiyum. The commissioners and their staff must resist such interventions. They are responsible for conducting a free and fair election not Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.

A row blew up when Mr Sayed-Khaiyum found out that a laptop computer went missing from the office of the electoral commission. This, he said, was a “highly sensitive matter”. He became very angry and issued an outspoken media statement. He said the laptop contained sensitive data such as the entire national register of voters in softcopy and statistical analysis of the data. One would have thought if this was indeed a ‘highly sensitive matter’ then the information should have not been left lying around and backups should have been made.

The UFDF would like to know why all this commotion about information that should be available to the public and political parties at any rate? Why should Mr Sayed-Khaiyum be so angry when he is the champion of a new Freedom of Information decree? The UFDF said one would have thought this was the opportunity for him to live up to the principles of that freedom.

Why should the data he is so concerned about be kept secret? Why is it sensitive? We urge Mr Young and his commissioners to immediately release it. The public have a right to know whether the interim Prime Minister and Mr Sayed-Khaiyum have access to the missing data. If they do what are they using it for?

The UFDF said it rejects outright any suggestions by Mr Sayed- Khaiyum that political parties may be involved in the disappearance of the laptop saying it is simply a ‘smear tactic’ by the AG and the best thing he can do is to stay right away from the Electoral Commission and let them get on with the job they have been appointed to do by the AG himself?

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s media outburst made it very clear that he expects commission staff to report to the Permanent Secretary for Elections. He was angry when the laptop theft was not disclosed for four days. He then notified the prime minister and the police who are reportedly conducting a full investigation.

Surely it is for the commission to decide whether this was a matter for the police. All this indicates that Mr Sayed-Khaiyum has not come to terms with the independence of the commission and thinks it should report to his Permanent Secretary and by extension him, so he can continue to influence its direction.

His reaction also indicates that he has no idea about normal processes for dealing with employee issues. Any accused employee or person has a right to be heard by the employer who may or may not decide to call in the police.

  The UFDF warns the Chairman & members of the Commission that this incident is just the beginning of the kind of interference that they can expect and which led to the collapse of the Ghai Commission.

The UFDF said members of the Commission must be resolute in their determination to ensure ‘free, fair and transparent’ elections and they should each bear in mind that the final judgment of their efforts in this task they have all agreed to undertake will come from the people of Fiji."