COUNTRY PAPER:
STATUS OF EDUCATION FOR ALL ACHIEVEMENTSIN FIJI
GOAL 1:Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
1.1Progress and achievements
Early childhood education is crucial to the formative years of a child’s education. The national target for Fiji in terms of ECE is to expand ECE provisions to all parts of the country especially to the rural and very remote areas. ECE is currently concentrated in the urban areas benefiting the urban children. This goal has been prioritized by Fiji showing its commitment towards this important area of education.
Table 1.1:ECE Enrolment by sex – 2006, 2009
Male / Female / NationalYears / 2006 / 2009 est / 2006 / 2009 / 2006 / 2009 est
Roll / 4308 / 4568 / 4320 / 4580 / 8628 / 9149
Pop. (5 Yrs Olds) / 9294 / 9323 / 8973 / 8762 / 18267 / 18086
GER ECCE / 46.35 / 49.00 / 48.14 / 52.27 / 47.23 / 50.59
[Source:SIMS, Ministry of Education, Fiji / Bureau of Statistics]
Between 2006 and 2009, a very small increase in enrolment is shown on the Early Childhood Education.
Though there is an increase in enrolment for the ECE, data in table 1 above shows the other 50% of the ECE aged children are not at school. These are presumably the disadvantaged who are residing in rural and very remote areas. Lack of data on ECE prevents the Ministry to gauge the enrolment status of these young children. Enrolment in the above table is not age specific whereby we can clearly gauge the enrolment status of the ECE.
Table 1.2:Entrants to Class 1 with ECE by sex, 2006, 2009
Year / Male / Female / Total2006 / 45 / 49 / 47
2009 / 51 / 55 / 53
Table 1.2 indicates an increase from 2006 to 2009 in percentage of students with ECE that entered class 1. A milestone was also shown as the percentages in males, females and totals exceeded the 50% mark.
If the trend continues not all ECE aged children will be at school by 2015.
1.2Challenges/Barriers
A number of issues listed below which contribute to the low enrolment of ECE in Fiji:
- There are about 700 ECE centers which are each supervised mostly by a single teacher.
- ECE teachers are non-civil servants, so they are not included in Government’s pay roll.
- ECE centres are managed by school management committees and most of them are village based which have no secured source of funding. School managements are also responsible for the selection and recruitment of their teaching staff. The Ministry of Education in Fiji provides support in the establishment and registration of the schools, the payment of grants to its teachers and support for equipments, furniture and learning materials.
- Minimal financial assistance in terms of salaries and building grants to ECE centres particularly in the rural areas hinder the acceleration of progress of the Early Childhood Education.
1.3.Way Forward to accelerate progress towards 2015
There is currently a major shift towards the Ministry of Education taking up the responsibilities of the training of ECE teachers and the development of the ECE curriculum. In October 2009, a Policy in ECE was developed and approved by the Ministry of Education to provide a clear direction for stakeholders providing ECE services in Fiji to access key administrative and policy information to ensure that all services offer quality programmes.
The new National Curriculum Framework recommends that ECE be attached to nearby primary schools. This would ensure that teaching and learning processes are followed and the smooth and timely transition from the kindergartens to the middle and upper primary schools.
The Fiji Education Act 1978 has been revised to incorporate changes that are relevant to current needs. One of the propose changes will include the expansion of compulsory school age to include pre-primary age of 4 years.
In 2012 the MOE will introduce and provide 6 pilot infant schools in very remote areas for 6 to 9 year olds where there are also opportunities for increase access to ECE. Expansion of infant schools will accelerate enrolment of ECE children.
1.4 Interventions or Support Requirement
1.4.1Funding
Limited funding hinders the expansion of ECE in Fiji. Since ECE is mostly community and private owned/runned schools, affordability is an issue. Parents who can afford to pay school fees can only send their children to the centres whereas parents who have little income cannot afford but to have their children stay home. The latter is mostly common in rural and very remote areas.
1.4.2Data collection/collation
The Ministry of Education School Information Management System (SIMS) has a dearth of information on ECE. Improvement is needed in the inclusion and wider coverage of ECE information in the SIMS.
GOAL 2:Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to a complete free and compulsory education of good quality
2.1.Progress and achievements
2.1.1Net intake rates
Intake rate is a measure of the percentage of the official entry age to primary school that are in class 1 during any year. In Fiji official entry age to class 1 is 6 years, so the rate is the proportion of 6 year olds in class 1 against the total 6 year olds in the population.
2.1.2Net Intake Rate into Class 1 by Sex – 2006, 2008
Table 2.1 Net Intake rate into Class 1 by sex 2006, 2008Year / Male / Female / Total
2006 / 71.98 / 70.14 / 71.07
2008 / 70.45 / 69.46 / 69.97
Table 2.1 shows that 69.97% of the 6 – year olds in the total population enter class 1 in 2008 as compared to 71.07% in 2006. Net Intake Ratios hovers around 70% to 71%. There is no major differential in enrolment between the two sexes. The slight drop in the population of this age group could be an explanation for this but it also indicates that the drop in intake is at a higher rate than the drop in the population. This could be due to a number of reasons but it is obvious that a higher number of students did not enroll when comparing the two years. Other data has also shown that when comparing the two years more of the age group students are enrolled in class 2 for 2008 as compared to 2006.
Figure 2.1:Primary Gross Enrolment Rate by Sex – 2006, 2008
[Source:Annual Reports - Ministry of Education, Fiji]
Graphical representation above depicts that the gross enrolment rate for primary schools class 1 – 6 is above 100%. This shows that there are students who are below 6 years or above 11 years that are still in class 1 to 6. Early and late enrolments in Fiji are still prevalent.
2.1.3Primary net enrolment rates
Table 2.2:Primary net enrolmentrates by gender – 2006, 2009
Year / Male / Female / Total2006 / 94 / 93 / 93
2009 / 91.7 / 91.6 / 91.7
Figure 2.2:Primary net enrolment rates by gender – 2006, 2009
[Source:SIMS - Ministry of Education, Fiji]
Table 2.2 and figure 2.2 above show that enrolment rate of 6-11 year olds of the population in primary schools have gone beyond the 90 % mark, an indication that universal primary education has been almost reached in Fiji. There is no major differential in enrolment between males and females between 2006 and 2009.
Enrolment ratios have been hovering at above 90% in the last decade and it indicates that pockets of children at primary school age are not at school. Additionally, our concern is the decreasing enrolment ratios in primary schools in the last few years which may be due to the decreasing school aged population as a result of low fertility and out-migration. This will have an impact on our plans for further development particularly in terms of infrastructural development in rural areas where population is decreasing.
Fiji is on target to achieve universal primary education by 2015 but there are issues that need to be addressed in order to reach the unreached.
2.2.Challenges/Barriers
Intake ratios are a concern as significant proportion of children are not enrolled in primary schools when they ought to be in schools. Young children are very small these days and reasons such as remoteness and isolation, distances travelled by young children, boarding at very early ages, poverty and hardships may be given by parents as reasons for not enrolling their children at early ages.
School dropouts at early ages has been a concern and this has contributed to the decrease in Net Enrolment Ratios. Children dropped/pushed out of the school system due to various reasons. There are push and pull factors such as poverty, extreme religious faiths/beliefs, financial hardships faced by parents forced students to leave school, early employment and child labour.
2.3.Way Forwardto accelerate progress towards 2015
Government through the Ministry of Education has expanded compulsory education to 12 years of basic education.
Government has provided the following measures and initiatives to get the children to school particularly those that are disadvantaged economically and financially:
-Transport assistance to parents whose income fall below $15,000;
-Transport subsidy in terms of provision of boats and engines to rural and maritime schools;
-In addressing equity , the differential Resourcing Formula was introduced for the award of tuition fees and grants to non – state schools;
-Free Textbooks to primary schools;
-Distance Education Learning to rural and remote areas;
-Food voucher programme for very rural and remote areas; and
-Introduction of infant schools to very remote areas.
2.4Interventions or Support Requirement
A nationwide survey on children facing hardships is required in all schools. This survey will target rural and urban schools to identify children who are facing difficulties in coming to school. It is assumed that some of these children face difficulties such as long distances travelled to school, lack of financial resources to buy school uniforms, and provision of lunch money. A nationwide survey will be essential in order to assess the difficulties face by children in attending schools.
GOAL 3:Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through
equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes
3.1.Progress and achievements
All young people and adults must be given the opportunity to gain the knowledge and develop the values, attitudes and skills that will enable them to develop their capacities to work, to participate fully in their society, to take control of their own lives and to continue learning.
Youth population in Fiji is defined as those people who are in the age groups 15-34 years. Fiji’s population in 2007 stood at 837,271 and 35% (about 300,000) of the populationcomprised of youths. Between 1996 and 2007 census, youth population have grown by 8% but Labour Force Participation Rates have dropped from 57% to 53% with a significant drop observed for the female participation. Table 3.2. Unemployment rate stood at 8.6 % in 2007 and there was no figure provided for the national unemployment rate for the youths,but the drop in LFPRs is an indication that unemployed youths may have increased in the last inter-censal period or they have been engaged in other activities like schooling and are not looking for jobs.
Table 3.1: Population and Labour Force Participation Rates, 1996, 2007
1996 / 2007Age groups / Population / LFPRs / Population / LFPRs
15-19 / 83682 / 24438 / 79518 / 18656
20-24 / 66955 / 42413 / 80352 / 47221
25-29 / 61660 / 42462 / 73487 / 49346
30-34 / 60841 / 42811 / 63535 / 43063
Total / 273138 / 152124 / 296892 / 158286
[Source: 2007 Census of Population and Housing, Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics 2008 ]
Table 3.2. Youth distribution by sex 1996, 2007
1996 / 2007Males / LFPR / Females / LFPR / Males / LFPR / Females / LFPR
15-19 / 42829 / 38.5 / 40853 / 19.4 / 40818 / 29.6 / 38700 / 17.0
20-24 / 34444 / 80.3 / 32511 / 45.4 / 41325 / 71.1 / 39027 / 45.7
25-29 / 31283 / 91.5 / 30377 / 45.5 / 37390 / 84.6 / 36097 / 49.0
30-34 / 30727 / 94.3 / 30114 / 45.9 / 32825 / 86.8 / 30710 / 47.5
Total / 139283 / 73.1 / 133855 / 37.6 / 152358 / 66.7 / 144534 / 28.1
Table 3.3. Youth distribution by region 1996, 2007
1996 / 2007Rural / LFPR / Urban / LFPR / Rural / LFPR / Urban / LFPR
15-19 / 42278 / 35.7 / 41404 / 22.6 / 37060 / 28.8 / 42458 / 18.8
20-24 / 31277 / 67.2 / 35678 / 59.9 / 34515 / 62.5 / 45837 / 56.0
25-29 / 30954 / 69.3 / 30706 / 68.5 / 32818 / 66.4 / 40669 / 67.7
30-34 / 31936 / 71.3 / 28905 / 69.3 / 29923 / 66.8 / 33612 / 68.6
Total / 136445 / 55.9 / 136693 / 52.5 / 134316 / 35.1 / 162576 / 51.8
Table 3.3 above shows that youth population in the urban areas have grown by 55% in 2007 compared to 50% in the 1996 census, an indication that youths have moved from rural to urban areas in search for better education and employment. Failing to secure decent jobs, youths can be vulnerable to social ills and can be a hindrance to society if not properly looked after.
So, government has devised a number of initiatives and programmes targeting youths and out of schools people in preparing them for employment and sustainable livelihoods.
3.1.1Department of Youth programmes.
Table 3.1: Number of trainings conducted and Youth Participation (by gender) in Life Skills Programme
Division / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009Central Eastern / No. of training conducted / 9 / 12 / 6 / 20
M / 314 / 243 / 112 / 253
F / 167 / 162 / 72 / 247
T / 481 / 405 / 154 / 500
Northern / No. of training conducted / 21 / 2 / 3 / 8
M / 149 / 36 / 78 / 128
F / 95 / 48 / 46 / 115
T / 244 / 84 / 124 / 243
Western / No. of training conducted / 4 / 2 / 15
M / 85 / 110 / 299
F / 46 / 28 / 192
T / 131 / 138 / 491
[Source: Youth & Sports Annual Report: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009]
The government of Fiji together with Non-Government Organization in Fiji and abroad continued to conduct life skills training courses that are compatible with the needs of our young people and are recognized under the national qualification framework.
The Department of Youth and Sports in total has trained 3,025 young people from the year 2005 -2009 and hope to pressure on with life skills training particularly for rural based young people who live outside the main urban centres.
Though there is increasing awareness and training on life skills, the above table indicates that more males attended life skills training more than females. In pursuance for employment it is assumed that more males are looking for employment than males.
3.1.2National Employment Centre
The National Employment Centre was established in January 2010 to assist the job seekers. Most of these job seekers belong to youth groups. As at June 2011, the Ministry of Labour, Employment Relations and Productivity through its National Employment Centre has registered a total of 19,730 job seekers, and 53.7% were females. These job seekers are placed in various training programmes for employment preparation.
Table 3.2:Progressive Update on the National Employment Centre activities as at 30th June, 2011
TOTAL / NORTHERN / WESTERN / CENTRAL/EASTERNREGISTRATION / 19730 / 2001 / 7495 / 10234
PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING / 13963 / 2032 / 6479 / 5452
APTITUDE ASSESSMENT / 10901 / 1993 / 4289 / 4619
LIFE SKILLS TRAINING / 7528 / 1205 / 3433 / 2890
EMPLOYMENT SKILLS TRAINING / 1765 / 255 / 959 / 551
WORK ATTACHEES / 270 / 17 / 32 / 221
PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT / 245 / 5 / 0 / 245
SME / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
VOLUNTEERS / 54 / 21 / 25 / 8
FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0
[Source: NEC June 2011]
One of the initiatives of the NEC is to prepare job seekers for employment, and arrangements have been made with employers to take clients from the Centre on a period of work attachment before they are recommended for full employment.
More effort is still required to prepare young people for employment taking into account the current growth in youth population and their employment status.
3.2.Challenges/Barriers
Through further analyzing the Department of Youth contribution in the conduct of Life Skills training around Fiji which over 35% of its population is youth, general assumption that little progress has been made in improving the position of youth in the labor market and young people still suffer disproportionately from a deficit of decent work opportunities due to lack of investment. However, the issue of youth training and employment is and will continue to be an important variable when considering effective youth empowerment strategies such as life skills training as most young people lack the necessary ability to sustain their effort and overcome challenges that stand in their way.
There is lack of coordination at national levels to ascertain the level and types of skills training offered to youths and adults in Fiji. Various Ministries and departments conduct their own training and the absence of a central coordinating agency hinders the collection of necessary information pertaining to youths.
3.3Way Forwardto accelerate progress towards 2015
Life skills training that were conducted by the Department of Youth’s National Service Scheme has been shifted together with its budget to the Ministry of Labour through their National Employment Centre. Government has promulgated the National Employment Centre whereby job seekers most of them are youths will be registered and trained for life skills training programme. The NEC will work in partnerships with employment agencies and employers including government to secure work attachments for youths to prepare them for the world of work.
Though the Department of Youth & Sports have been organizing variety of trade discipline training to our young people through its Youth Centres, special emphasis has been directed to add value to existing youth programs in terms of infrastructural development, self-reliant and enterprising.
The support of aid donor agency and government will result in the introduction of fully fledged training programs and fully developed youth training centres throughout Fiji.
The introduction of fully developed training centre’s and fully fledged training programs will motivate our young people learning and a successful academic performance though been dropped out of the school system due to various factors of life.
3.4Interventions or Support Requirement
The need to have a central coordinating agency to oversee the training of youths is necessary. Assistance is required to revamp the Department of Youths in order to extend its role in establishing a database for the collection of necessary data. There is a need to coordinate with other ministries and non-government agencies in the monitoring and collation of data and information for the youth development in Fiji.
Reaching out to our young people in remote rural areas is among new service applications strategies of the Youth Department, but finance remains the pivotal factors towards new youth development initiatives.
GOAL 4: Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for
women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults
4.1.Progress and achievements
Literacy is a key determinant for long-term human development and a significant factor to the social and economic improvement of individuals and a country.
Table 4.1: Adult Literacy Rates in Fiji 2000 – 2004
Adult literacy rate (%)– Male / 94Adult literacy rate (%)– Female / 91
Total Adult literacy rate / 93
[Source: UN Common Database (UNESCO)- 2006]
The table above shows that Fiji has a high literacy rate, i.e. over 90% of the populations over the age of 15 years are literate.High achievement levels of literacy are due to Fiji’s high achievers in terms of access to education for both males and females. Education has been a priority for previous and current government and In the past years Net Enrolment Ratios for Fiji had been hovering above 90%.