[File Photo]

A recent Fiji Education Staff Appointment report has shed light on a concerning educational crisis in Fiji, with 39% of 90,000 students dropping out between Years 8 and 12 in the past few years.

Permanent Secretary Selina Kuruleca says it is concerning to note that more boys are dropping out of school than girls.

Kuruleca also reveals that more i-Taukei students living in rural and maritime areas are leaving schools due to various factors.

The Permanent Secretary attributes this dropout crisis to a widening learning gap between rural and urban students, caused by higher poverty rates in rural communities.

“Some of the children, particularly the males, went into farming as a way of helping their family members because the income was no longer available due to COVID or unemployment. So when they stayed home, they then chose not to return to school when school reopened.”

PS Education Selina Kuruleca [File Photo]

Kuruleca also states that social issues have contributed to this issue.

“So there are a multitude of factors, family issues, families, some of whom, where the children have moved into the urban areas to stay with relatives, that constrain or strain relations between, in Fijian, we say Bulavakararavi, they go and stay with another family. That also has its own dynamics; some children are then unable to cope, and then they choose to leave school.”

The Fijian Teachers Association General Secretary stresses the importance of proper parenting, which is seen as a major concern.

“Now parents tend to be to miss their focus or lose their focus on parenting. And they would focus on other things like church or cultural obligations, which are really the contributing factors to students not being children, their children not being supervised at home, and children not concentrating in their studies.”

Fiji Teachers Union President Muniappa Gounder highlights the need to prioritize the needs of rural and maritime school students.

“So, we also must need the government and the ministry to, you know, finance these schools in the maritime and remote rural areas so that they are more aware of this resource and then able to provide the best education to the children.”

The Education Ministry says they are working on the introduction of 13 vocational centers around the country that will give these students options to upskill themselves and make a difference in the community.