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Ro Kepa: Independent Education Commission is the SOLUTION to fix the mess in Education System - 'We need a comprehensive review by IEC'

15/1/2016

27 Comments

 
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Statement
[125/15/1/2016]
 
Independent Education Commission is the SOLUTION!!
 
Education is said to be the most important investment any Government can make and has far reaching implications that can assist in defying socio-economic norms and realities as well as helping grow Fiji economically. I believe Educational reform is also worth any cost and should not be bound by political point scoring or Government propaganda
 
I acknowledge that the Fiji First Party has picked up the baton from the Military backed Interim Government of 2007 to 2014, and have tried to push forward Education Reform that to date are questionable and impractical
 
As a former Minister for Education, I understand too well the complaints and challenges of the Education System, it is not a problem that can be solved overnight but it is a problem that can be solved by deep rational engagement with all stakeholders and the citizens of Fiji including our current consumers of the Education Sector. 
 
In response to Dr. Reddy’s call to attend consultations on the state of our Education System, the Office of the Leader of Opposition held a one day Consultation on the 5th of January 2016.
 
Three main priority issues were presented to the Minister and his Staff during their Ministerial consultation on the 8th January. These include:
  1. A Moratorium be placed on all education reforms until an Independent Education Commission is established to review the Education system and a report submitted to Parliament and adopted. The establishment of an independent Education Commission is imperative for the sustainable Education system in Fiji.
  2. That the $7 million allocation in the 2016 Budget, for the establishment of 10 Technical Colleges be redirected to upgrade existing Vocational Schools throughout Fiji, pending the tabling of the Report from the proposed Independent Education Commission.

  1. Lastly Fiji’s Scholarship system needs to be reviewed immediately, to assess whether it meets the access, availability and affordability tests as per social justice norms.
As it stands, poor educational outcomes and inefficient education systems are of deep concern worldwide, and Fiji does not stand alone. In many countries, primary schools fail to provide students with appropriate cognitive skills like numeracy, literacy, problem-solving ability and general scientific knowledge.

Furthermore, inadequate education at the secondary and tertiary levels, including technical and vocational education and training, is leaving students ill-equipped to meet the job market’s changing demands. As a result, many countries are struggling with a mismatch between the skills that employers seek and those that workers have.

An Independent Education Commission and a real desire to implement fair and effective educational change is needed now more than ever to reform our Education standards and push Fiji into the 21ST Century

I applaud the Prime Minister’s Desire to leave “free education programme” behind as his legacy as reported this morning on the FBC website.
 
However, I must emphasize that quality and affordable free education will only be a reality if there is a comprehensive review of the Education System by an Independent Education Commission. 
 
Authorized By:                          
Ro Teimumu Kepa



Leawere to Bainimarama: "Please change the Minister [Reddy] as under his leadership, people have died and how many more are very scary to think of."

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The Honourable Prime Minister
Government Buildings
Suva


2nd December, 2015.

Dear Sir,

RE: MICRO MANAGING EDUCATION MINISTRY BY THE HON MINISTER, DR MAHENDRA REDDY

Ni sa bula Vinaka Turaga Na Prime Minister. I would like to raise my concern and inform you of what is happening at the Ministry of Education which may warrant your intervention.

Recent changes made in the Ministry of Education by the Hon Minister is like a whirlwind where with one swoop of his hand, he has introduced reforms that are demoralising the entire work force from the administrative level to the teachers on the ground. He has virtually disregarded the role of the operational head of the Ministry as stipulated in Section 127 – (2) of the 2013 Constitution, which says that “each Ministry is to be under the administration of the Permanent Secretary”.

Reforms

In Parliament, on Tuesday, 25th August, Dr Reddy announced in his Ministerial statement that he has introduced a 3 tier reform which are ill conceived and not widely consulted even amongst his senior staff.

These reforms like the many that he has introduced without consultation at the Ministry level and disseminated to the teachers who will implement them will only bring about low morale and fear. These changes have demoralised the entire Ministry and by cracking his whip telling them that this is the way it’s going to be and how it’s going to be is showcasing his dictatorial attitude on all those under his leadership.

A case in point is the assessment issue in which he had announced early in the year that teachers are going to be assessed on a ratio of 60-20-20. This means that 60 should come from work carried out, 20 from the supervisors and 20 from the students for years 12 and 13.

Just recently, roving principals are going to schools and informing teachers that assessment procedures have changed. A sudden change such as this not only increases the anxiety on the teachers but it has placed an extra burden on the teachers and psychologically affects their output in as far as their results in examinations are concerned.

Reporting Line

The Ministry has no structure in terms of reporting especially from education officers to senior education officers to Director Level. Now with the new reforms, everyone is reporting directly to the Minister and the Permanent Secretary is bypassed especially in the decision making process.
 
Appointments

Section 127 –(8) The PS of each Ministry with the agreement of the Minister responsible for the ministry has the authority to determine all matters pertaining to the employment of all staff in the ministry, including –
  1. The terms and conditions of employment
  2. The qualification requirements for appointment and the process to be followed for appointment, which be an open, transparent and competitive selection process based on merit;
  3. The salaries, benefits and allowances payable , in accordance with its budget as approved by parliament; and
  4. The total establishment or the total number of staff that are required to be appointed, in accordance with the budget as approved by parliament.
Appointments are made by the Hon Minister without the proper procedures as stipulated in the constitution and the PS is not functioning in the Ministry as the Minister is the sole authority who determines all these. There are 17 research officers at CDU and are paid at $24,000+ and are not even budgeted nor approved by parliament and worse still is way over the total establishments needed. One wonders if the Hon Prime Minister knows about this or realise the implications of these reforms.

The Senior Education Officer Chemistry came straight from USP to this position after graduation and who appoints the officer, none other than the Minister. There is a procedure in place and unfortunately is not being followed and anyone appointed is only through the Minister. Mrs Basundra Kumar during her tenure as acting PS, questioned the dictatorial attitude of Mr Reddy. She was not given a fair hearing and now she is history despite the fact that she had approached the Prime Minister about her case.

The current acting PS is dysfunctional due to the Minister taking over her role. She is just like a puppet and does not carry out her duties as spelt out in the constitution because her role has been taken over by the dictator.

There are 14 Directors in the Ministry. Were these positions budgeted? Will they contribute to the success rate of the Ministry? One can only wait and see the effectiveness of the changes made. The Director Technical College position was supposed to be awarded to Mr Eci Naisele and through the Hon Minister’s intervention, the post was given to another officer who was not qualified. Mr Naisele has the necessary experience and competency but he was overlooked because of the connection the promotee had with the Minister.

It would be interesting to make a head count at the number of Fijians with Indian decent being promoted recently at the Ministry when he became Minister for Education. It is quite scary.

Teachers

Teachers are his mercy and he is ready to castigate and lay his blame on them. Now a case in point is the recent suicide of the three primary students. He has blamed his officer for carrying out his own instructions that schools must do well or the teachers will face the full consequences. It was through him and now he does not want it to be viewed that the directive originated from him. He is not fit to lead the Ministry of Education. He has brought fear amongst his teachers and officers. He has not even considered them for their hard work by way of a pay rise. It’s time to give credit where it is due. I have said this in Parliament regarding teachers’ pay and he does not even respond well to my questions.

The issue on pay rise has been raised many times and with Christmas just around the corner, it would be a positive move to give them what they deserve as these teachers are the implementers of the many reforms being introduced. I plead with your high office and as well as the Hon Minister to give these teachers and all civil servants a pay rise before the year ends. I am sure that there are savings which can be utilised to cater for this.

And as for those students who had taken their lives, they would not have done what they did, if they were not forced to pass and teachers are simply just carrying out what they have been directed to do, by telling their students to pass or else.

Now the Hon Minister is reneging on his directive that all students will have to be assessed and then not to move up to higher level if they don’t do well and now he is singing a different tune when those students took their lives. He cannot take the blame and the sad thing about this is the fact that this loss happened under his watch and in a primary school which is history in the making. He is clever to be seen consoling the grieving parents and as a matter of fact, he is to be blamed and he should be ashamed of himself. These parents should take him to court. This is usually the case where someone wants to take all the credit and unfortunately this time it’s backfiring on his face.

Let us hope that we do not see this happening after Year 12 and Year 13 exam results come out and unfortunately, we are still waiting for Year 8 results.

Managerial Post

The Fiji Teacher Registration Board has its own manager just like the Post Processing Unit. The change in title as introduced by Reddy is made to please his own self and no one is benefitting, especially the community it has been tasked to serve.

What is a Manager in an education system? What is his/her role? Why the change in title? Is there a need?

Hon Prime Minister, I am concerned and so do others who have asked me to write to you. The Ministry needs your intervention and you can see for yourself on what is happening or do you? The Hon Minister for Health would have been the ideal choice and alas, here we have someone who hasn’t the faintest idea and also doesn’t care to heed advice, and running the Ministry like a dictator.

Please change the Minister as under his leadership, people have died and how many more are very scary to think of.

Merry Christmas Hon Prime Minister!

Sincerely

Hon Mikaele Leawere
Member of the Opposition


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Fijileaks: Reddy should FIX the rot at FNU and bring Kafoa to JUSTICE!

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27 Comments
Posing with the Puppet
15/1/2016 09:17:28 am

Education is too important to be made into a political foot-ball.

The Puppet posing with those teachers and students, scoring cheap political points is very unethical.

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Teacher
15/1/2016 09:21:59 am

Education Minister (together with countless class six students), has failed his first Exam. He MUST resign

Teachers are having great difficulty in addressing the Education Minister as ‘Honourable”.

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Daniel Yaya
15/1/2016 10:52:54 am

The education Minister is doing a great job. His education reforms has been commended by Australia, NZ and the UN rapporteur Kishore Singh (India), UNESCO.
No other Minister for Education has ever got Fiji's exam results out before Christmas.

Well done Hon. Dr Reddy

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Samjha
15/1/2016 11:18:04 am

Daniel Ha! ha! You mean Well done Horny Dr Reddy!

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Daniel Yaya
16/1/2016 12:12:35 pm

What if he is horny. All he man are supposed to horny, you idiot.

L Seini
15/1/2016 11:58:40 am

The Education Minister Dr. Reddy has done quite a lot for the education system since his appointment. He has setup a fair and transparent recruitment process for teachers and set standards for teachers. Brought exams back and removed scaling. Under his leadership my kids have free tuition, free milk, free textbooks and free transport. He is great. Wonder what Kepa did for education when she was Minister for Education? Absolutely nothing. This Minister walks the talk. Vinaka vakalevu Minister. You are our hero.

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Dinos W
15/1/2016 12:07:25 pm

Victor I always see either this Kepa or Leawere criticising the Education Minister. I am a teacher in the education system and I am telling you that there is no fear for the Minister amongst the teachers. That's a myth. It's good that things are done on merits instead of the favoritism and nepotism that was happening at Kepa's time. People without qualifications were placed as Heads of schools and sat at High offices at the Ministry. We are very happy with the new modern reforms by Dr. Reddy. Fiji first will get my vote every time.

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Dekho
15/1/2016 05:44:29 pm

Nothing has been done on merit since Baini's takeover. Everything is done on the basis of favouritism, nepotism and sycophancy. You can't see that because you are a Fiji first arselicker. Why do you think murderer Kean is sitting at High Offices? Why is murderer Bala still a minister?

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Your intelligence as a teacher is questionable link
16/1/2016 10:40:59 am

What type of teacher you are leaves lot to ponder. Every single book printed since last year, for every single subject for every class has errors. Every single exam paper printed by so called smart shorts appointed by your favorite minister either did not reach schools on time, were less than the number required or had errors, some questions were on topics not taught.
Teachers in every school are scared to say anything. Anyone caught complaining gets fired or transferred.
Never in history of education system in Fiji have we seen such. mess.
I have taught for more than 30 years and am gravelly worried about the generation being taught since last year. It will take good 10-15years to clean the mess this minister is making. God help us all. All citizens will suffer due to the errors in education. Damages in other sectors can be repaired. Mess in education is unrepairable.

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Alby
17/1/2016 05:58:43 am

We can all pick faults in anything but come on, lets be realistic.

10-15 years to sort what mess?

Perhaps after 30 years of teaching there's naturally going to be a reluctance to change and the examples you give of what you are annoyed with suggest this.

Yours too
17/1/2016 09:04:53 am

A teacher of 30 years and yet you cannot spell. The system is farked with the likes of you.

Jack
15/1/2016 02:59:06 pm

Nice cartoon on Ashwin Raj Fijileaks.

Obviously, this guy is a failed and rejected political scientist posing as a gay rights campaigner.

He has even conned his way into a media position.

He can shoot his mouth and spray fancy words but in reality a vacuous opportunist serving no one but his own interests by sidling up to Bainimarama and Khaiyum.

UNESCO needs to be informed Ashwin Raj is a pretentious imposter in cahoots with the Fiji regime, helping them suppress media freedom and supporting Bainimarama's homophobic comments.

The LGBT community need to expose him and kick him out.

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Fijileaks
15/1/2016 06:59:20 pm

Ratu Sai and other commentators

In case you are wondering what has happened to your comments, we have not approved them because of abuse language in many of your comments

Can't you people be civil and make the same points without resorting to abuse

And if you don't want to abide, you are welcome to go elsewhere

Thanks

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Chiku
15/1/2016 08:10:26 pm

NFP parliamentarians Biman Prasad,Tupou Draunidalo and Prem Singh are reconsidering whether they should continue with the farce of engaging in the parliamentary democracy installed by coupist Bainimarama and his decree designer Khaiyum when there is no bipartisanship and instead everything is simply bulldozed through parliament in a dictatorial way .
Responding to this from his backside the Khaiyum chamcha Ashneel Sudhakar said what the NFP parliamentarians are saying is far from the truth.
Look who is talking about what is the truth. It is a Fiji First Theft Party MP who is there only because he is prepared to suck up to Khaiyum and Bainimarama.
Everybody knows what is the truth. The truth is Fiji is still a dictatorship of two
Anyone want to guess who are the two?

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villiame link
16/1/2016 05:38:34 am

Its funny kepa talking about mess in Fiji Fiji education. On my personal experience after after visiting education ministry I noticed many things...such as improved customer service(service delivery), very qualified n dynamic pple holding positions who goes out of his/her n help, excellent raw results, the minister himself takes out time n meet, n so needed reforms...thumbs up to the government. ..also I came to hear abt maritime teachers double allowance n icing on the cake wen I heard dat he gave principals n sch heads a 24hr turn around time to decide n start giving da bus fare assistance. .wat else pple want??..such a wonderful person he is..best man at dat position currently in fiji..vinaka PM

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Suva_City_2016
16/1/2016 08:10:52 am

Mr Lewawere I beg to differ. I am an itaukei at the HR Section here in Marela. We processed all applications for the Director Technical College of Fiji. It was processed according to the guidelines laid out to ensure a fair and transparent decision was made. Mr Eci scored less than the current Director and so it was awarded to him. It was a fair decision and we could not award it otherwise. Vosota sara Turaga Tau...I am not taking sides but just merely clarifying how we arrived at the decision. By the way the guidelines were drawn up by Maxumise to ensure impartiality. We only sat during the final stage of the process. Shortlisting was done by the post processing unit. Vinaka vakalevu Sara. All other appointments are carried out in this manner as required. We have also awarded other Directors of itaukei origins their posts because they top scored as well in the guidelines. Au kerea me matata tiko vei keda na kena gaunisala sa calamari tiko qo Ena nodatou valenivolavola. However we have had cases where Reddy has overuled our decision but he explained his reasons which were quite practical in nature. For example if the officer was awarded a post to move to another school as a promotion but was also confirmed as the post holder for the post he was acting in. Then the minister would overrule our decision and ask the sitting officer if he wanted to stay in his current confirmed post instead of moving. In a few cases the officers opted to the latter and he would instruct us to award it to the next highest officer.

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bulou
16/1/2016 11:10:19 am

Mr Leawere is indeed voicing the silent majority of the teachers who indeed are in fear of losing their jobs if failing to adhere to the whirlwind changes being implemented by reddy.his ministry is in dictatorship mode..he knows it..the whole ministry knows it..the whole of fiji knows it but he is defensive and so self righteous that he cannot seem to realize the damage he is doing to the teachers..and especially the future of Fiji..our kids...he has totally messed up the system..messed the kids and teachers..messed up everything...he is creating new posts and promoting people whi dont deserve promotion when the hard working teachers who sacrifice and give their everything for the students quietly suffer wih their little pay pack which they have been sitting on for years without any invrease or acknowledgement for their hard work. There is a APA done evey y3ar to assess teachers performance and teachers work hard to excel hoping for a payrise due to excellent performance..hundreds of teachers have sacrificed so much for their students for more than ten years and have had 100 percent passes intheir subject areas..yet they havent received a single cent of payrise due to them as stated inthe assessment ...its about time fiji paid the teachers well...its pure logic..wihout them your kids wouldnt be excelling in school to become prof3ssionals in 5heir fields...where do you think akl the doctors and lawyers education originated from...yes from the teachers hard work..our kids are under the carw of these teachers..our chukdren are the most important ina family...we want quality education we should pay the teachers accordingly...you will only reap what you sow...we want our children to reap quality results..we invest in our teachers properly..isa may God bless fiji teachers..its sad to know that a vast majority dread another schòol year fearing what it may bring...but they need to deed their families and continue to quietly suffer

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Daniel Yaya
18/1/2016 04:51:35 am

The teachers who have never performed are the one's fearing job losses. There has never been any performance evaluation for teachers in Fiji - free ride all along.

In many government departments and in private sector, employees performance is evaluated every six months and any laxity in performance would result in them being pulled up or given further training, mentorship etc to perform, failing which the door is the right way to go.

This Minister will get the teachers to produce results and work hard if they want to keep their job.

What is there to fear about unless you are a muku siga or poor performer as a teacher.....



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John C
16/1/2016 01:03:52 pm

Interesting read until the letter lost all its credibility. That would be where this (dis)honourable member from Opposition brought in his racist slant. Of course, that is all notwithstanding the fact that this member, claiming to be an ex-schoolteacher cannot even spell "descent".

Between the both of them, Kepa and Leawere have the collective intellect of a shoe lace.

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Alby
17/1/2016 06:27:56 am

When we have politicians such as Leawere making the below statement all we can do is feel saddened that this is the calibre of person the taxpayer is being forced to support and the mindset of someone who thinks they are capable of the job they do.

"Please change the Minister as under his leadership, people have died and how many more are very scary to think of."

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kai rewa
16/1/2016 02:18:40 pm

Sad that zero development by kepa in rewa since election
I can she is enjoying free car high .salary etc
so sad and pathetic

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kana loto
16/1/2016 02:23:39 pm

Its really sad that sodelpa MPs are just collecting their pay loud mouthing but zero development to voters

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Aj
17/1/2016 04:15:46 am

My wife is a teacher. I will trust her assessment over all others. She stands firm that this Minister, who her friends call Monster Reddy, will destroy Fiji's education system. He has no idea on how children and students behave, and what motivation is all about. He is a terrible role model. The work environment is one where distrust, fear, intimidation rule. Muslim and South Indian teachers, and those who are close to Frank, are always given special and favourable treatment. The list is endless. But also Kepa was a terrible minister. She had no clue of how to build a good education system. Entrusting Education to her will bring equal destruction as entrusting it in the hands of Monster Reddy has. Over the past 15 years, the only credible Education Minister was Filipe Bole. A real gentleman and an intellectual compared to the two idiots Monster Reddy and Kepa.

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John C
17/1/2016 09:03:59 am

Very true, on both counts. Mahenwa is an egoistic twerp who has a superiority complex against anyone else who brings experience and leadership to Education. This is clouding his judgment.

Kepa on the other hand was only a student counseller and suddenly propagated to Education Minister was shocked into professional incapacitation. The only traction on her watch was her sleeping (quite literally) on the job with Anthony Tarr of the USP.

Bole....hmmn,

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Daniel Yaya
18/1/2016 05:01:24 am

Bole was an incredible minister - What a joke?

What reforms did he bring?

The Fijian education standards started dropping with scaling of marks to favour students, some of who would end up in higher education.

This will eventually produce graduates who are imbecile, cant think independently, become part of the culture of silence.

So if some of these graduates become teachers, just imagine the type of students they will produce.

There is no need to fear if a teacher is performing well and can produce results, which will be raw marks as proposed by the Hon Minister.

All poor performers will definitely fear losing their jobs.

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On-Song
18/1/2016 03:10:58 am

Interesting read all who have written in, but not a solution offered for the benefit of the Minister, Teachers and our children as students!! It was always assumed that someone who has come up the ranks and been in the profession would be the best candidate to lead; thus ex-teachers as Ministers and Administrators in Education etc. Often times you will find they've been very good (not so great) teachers, but only just that and NOT necessarily qualified as top officials in the Ministry as Managers, Directors, PS etc. A simple example is our current Minister for Health Jone Usamate, an ex-teacher 'punching' above his weight and doing a damn good job of it. As for Spelling; our children may never achieve the same level of proficiency that adults have..period!!.....aaaahh except maybe same same as some in Parliament and many who are teaching English

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Bahuki
21/1/2016 05:16:31 am

The education system so far has been a complete disaster by Mahendra Not-so-Reddy that it seems that he often comes up with random policies from out of nowhere without the necessary consultations as the FFP govt is infamously well known for.

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