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LANGUAGE WAR: Ro Kepa slams Education Minister Reddy for attacking Namosi school principal for using Fijian language in classroom,'I take great offence at his [Reddy's] dismissive attitude to our Fijian language'

9/9/2015

18 Comments

 
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Statement

[84/31/8/2015]

Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa has hit back at Education Minister Mahendra Reddy over his reported reaction to a legitimate concern by Namosi Secondary School Principal Filomena Usa, about the use of the Fijian language in classrooms for clarity and explanation.

Ro Teimumu said Minister Reddy’s response to school Principal Usa was insulting and typical of a Government that has banned the Fijian language from Parliament. The Opposition Leader said instead of barking aggressively about Principal Usa, Mr Reddy would be well advised to listen carefully to what she was saying.

“I take great offence at his dismissive attitude to our Fijian language but I am not entirely surprised,” she said.

Ro Teimumu said the Minister was wrong if he thought communities around the world were ready to sacrifice their mother tongue in favor of English.

“Yes, English is the international language and the language of global business and our children must be proficient in it.  This does not mean that indigenous languages should be consigned to history.  The Fijian language is a treasure and a symbol of an entire culture.  Mr Reddy must understand this.”

Ro Teimumu said even Mr Reddy himself conversed in Hindi generally and switched to English when the need arose.  This often happened in multi-lingual societies.

She said the leaders of the two most populous countries on the planet, the Prime Minister of India and President of China, both made official speeches in Fiji in their native tongues.

According to Ro Teimumu, children who are proficiently bilingual have a definite advantage.  It is incumbent on the Government, she said, to encourage this.  In fact according to the linguist Professor Paul Geraghty earlier this month and this was supported by the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs that the Indigenous people have to place a high value on their languages.

“As far as I am concerned our indigenous people must never ever give up their language or feel ashamed about it,” she said. 

“Teaching English for all our teachers is difficult enough as it is a second language. Employing a well-trained indigenous Fijian teacher to teach English to indigenous pupils has certain benefits in terms of clarifying concepts and meanings. A teacher with Fiji Hindi as a first language can similarly use the mother tongue to assist in the process of teaching English.” 

“I am sure that this is what Principal Usa was conveying to the Minister,” said Ro Teimumu.  “There was no need for him to go off his handle on this extremely sensitive topic. Mr Reddy, she said, had a habit of trying to emulate his leader, Frank Bainimarama, who has never stopped barking.

Authorized By                          
Ro Teimumu Kepa


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18 Comments
Fiji First Party
9/9/2015 07:14:17 pm

Just where is this man’s basic human decency?? Where are his good manners? Is his behavior exemplary of fostering good race relations?

Does this phony Professor, myopic Minister of the Fiji Thieves Party, even know that RIGHTS to ones’ language is an enshrined RIGHT in the Bill of Rights provisions of the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution of Fiji.

Or has such rights been removed from the FRAUD Khaiyum’s 2013 Constitution of Fiji??

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Tualeita
9/9/2015 08:16:09 pm

Because everyone is now called a Fijian, we should all speak Fijian. And additionally, only English and Fijian should be mandatorily taught and spoken in schools. All other languages are to be optional.

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One Size Does Not Fit All
9/9/2015 09:38:15 pm

Fiji First Party... u r right. This Minister is crazy over grown idiot.

While it is understandable a policy decision to use of English as the teaching language in all other classroom than the vernacular language whether it is Hindi, or Fijian, so to improve the English literacy in our children.

However, where the English Language is already poor and English being a second language, it is not unreasonable for use of ones own language to drive the point through, rather than doing entire teaching class in Fijian.

Even students from Suva Grammar or Jai Narayan College if one looks at their English results, their performance would be lower than what they achieve in all other subjects for majority I-Taukei or Indians for that matter.

So mixed language explanation is not a bad idea as tools to raise standard of understanding.

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Wake up teachers and parents link
9/9/2015 10:06:26 pm

With a spineless teachers union, it's time teachers and parents demand their rights where this idiot minister's authoritative nature is concerned. He has zero teacher training qualifications. One wonders what he was like when he was teaching at USP and FNU. Trying to reform the whole education curriculum, the quality of teachers, what happens in classrooms and all in just 1yr, is definitely thought by an illiterate one. This minister is the best example of that. Parents are now spending hours doing homeworks for their kids. Teachers are at their feet full time, looking over their shoulders for spies set up in schools, children can't grasp all changes. Wake up and question his decisions otherwise the curriculum and your children's education will take 2 decades to repair.

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Konchi Bole Sala
9/9/2015 11:35:59 pm

The purpose of teaching is imparting knowledge. Language is a tool of conveying that knowledge. Knowledge itself is language neutral – and whichever language best exemplifies the point, should be the language of use.

For example, if the Hindi word ‘Gadha’ is presently used to describe Minister Reddy, the Indo-Fijian students in the class will quickly and concisely get the meaning of the teacher’s intention rather than if the English word ‘donkey’ was used instead, in this instant.

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Dekho Socho Samjho
10/9/2015 07:03:49 am

Sala bole she's making a mountain out of a molehill !!

Does the Opposition have an Education spokesperson?

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Spot-On
10/9/2015 09:03:09 am

A very Good example.

It is the Gadha Professors and Teachers like Minister Reddy who are responsible for mass producing barking 'Puppets' like Bainimarama.

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Be Consistent
9/9/2015 11:42:48 pm

But isn’t English a colonial legacy which too should be shredded like our flag?

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Chiku
10/9/2015 12:21:55 am

Yes English is a colonial legacy and should be scrapped like our flag.
Also trousers and toilet paper, watches and written word, rugby, cricket, soccer , the church , the parliament, the army and democracy should be scrapped. I am sure there are many other colonial stuff I am missing out.

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Tualeita
10/9/2015 12:43:05 am

English is a language understood and spoken internationally. That is why we need to learn and speak it in all schools, towns and villages.

The Fijian language is spoken the majority everywhere in Fiji. and since we are all now Fijians we should study it and speak it too in schools. It should be mandatory.

We will be destroying the Fijian culture if we try to eliminate the Fijian language.

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khaderu
10/9/2015 03:06:19 am

for too long the unions had their ways. now he is taking the biggest bull in town by the horn. boy i admire his guts with the final outcome good for the country

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maropito
10/9/2015 03:43:11 am

In Fiji 80% of madrasi people don't speak nor they know madrasi language.

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So..?
10/9/2015 09:08:49 am

Do you want to make Madrasis out of Kai-Vitis ?

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Tailevu Kid
10/9/2015 07:48:28 am

Hon. PM has jumped on the bandwagon lamenting the poor English being used in classrooms. And he's right. All while he reads his prepared speeches on a screen.
What a snob.

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Dinos Watson
10/9/2015 10:05:41 am

English is a universal language that should be mastered well. Unfortunately most of our teachers being products of poor education cannot speak or pronounce words well. Spelling and grammar is very poor in teachers themselves so how can they teach? I support Dr. Reddy's guts to ensure teachers have standards. Long time coming. Kepa needs to know when she should shut up. Reddy doing everything singlehandedly while she is sucking tax payers money buying pearls and jewellery.

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More Reasons Then Not
11/9/2015 12:03:13 am

This gives good reasons why own language needs to be used to express the true understanding on having students understand.

Poor English has a long history in Fiji and not new.

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Kelera
10/9/2015 10:10:53 am

Fiji hindi is taught in schools. So is conversational Itaukei and real India Hindi. That's a great way to integrate society. People will know each other language and can communicate better. However native language on one side English is actually more important as it will enable communication with the world. Imagine me writing in itaukei. How many of us will understand? So good English is given priority by Minister Reddy.

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Bahuki
14/9/2015 10:25:32 am

Does the education minister really need to sound like a Dicktator as Frankie himself.

He's supposed to sort things out in an appropriate manner and not act like an A-Hole which is very disappointing.

Makes me wonder who was the idiot (if not Frankie) that elected Reddy in the first place.

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