Fiji has made the biggest progress in accessing formal education when compared to other Pacific island countries, says the Ministry of Education’s acting permanent secretary, Basundra Kumar. She was speaking to close to 40 participants at the launch of the first national seminar on ‘Quality Teacher Development and Quality Learning’ at the Holiday Inn Suva yesterday. “Fiji has achieved over 90 per cent in its ‘Education For All’ programme and the focus of the post 2015 education agenda shifts from equitable access to access with quality education,” Ms Kumar said. She said the roles of teachers have changed over the years and they were now disciplinarians, counsellors, mentors and nutritionists, among other things. “It is through the quality of teaching that schools can make a difference in the life chances of their students and teachers’ effectiveness is the key to improved educational outcomes.” Mrs Kumar said according to the 21st century demands placed on the education system, teaching was the most complicated task. “It demands a broad knowledge of the subject, curriculum and standards, a caring attitude, a love for learning and knowledge of the discipline.” She said the seminar would be a good platform to discuss issues and map out strategies collectively to strengthen teacher policies and teacher training to ensure teacher effectiveness.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:58:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015