Education Minister Premila Kumar during her visit to one of the schools [Source: Twitter]

The Ministry of Education has identified that there is an acute shortage of trained teachers in special and early childhood education.

Minister Premila Kumar had earlier highlighted that only two percent of qualified teachers have degrees, while the others only have diplomas or certificates in these areas.

Kumar says they have been meeting teacher training institutions to provide provisions on how teachers can upgrade their qualifications.

The teachers themselves need training on a yearly basis. Our job is to ensure training is available so teachers can sign up. Normal teaching is different from the teaching you need to provide for special children. It’s a different ballgame altogether.

The Minister says there is a gap in this regard, urging students to pursue qualifications in these two areas.

Meanwhile, Ba Special School committee president says since the school was part of the Frank Hilton College in Suva, there were plans to start special services for children in school.