Litia Cava 
Numerous schools in Fiji grapple with critical infrastructure deficiencies such as crowded classrooms insufficient sanitation and limited access to safe drinking water.
Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca has highlighted these challenges in response to inquiries regarding the Pacific Education Sector’s capacity to build resilience.
Shockingly, she revealed that certain schools still rely on boreholes for their water supply, and some are situated in regions classified as high-risk for water contamination.
“Only last month we’ve had a lot of water carting in the Ba Tavua area which is the West side of the Fiji Islands but then that raised its own challenges with cartage or containers carting the water if it was clean or not so we’ve also had that discussion and that is a continuous ways that we are looking to improve the problems associated with limited access to running water only in some of our remote schools.”
In light of these concerns, Kuruleca states that the Education Ministry has joined forces with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Health to proactively address the health risks linked to contaminated water sources and supplies.
These issues pose significant hindrances to the sector’s ability to effectively respond to disruptions be they natural disasters, natural hazards or pandemics.
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