Permanent Secretary for Education Alison Burchell says tertiary institutions in the country have a responsibility to ensure they provide quality teachers.

Teacher training institutions have been challenged to improve Fiji’s performance in the literacy and numeracy field.

Speaking at the handover of literacy and numeracy kits from the Australian High Commission to the University of the South Pacific today, Permanent Secretary for Education Alison Burchell says tertiary institutions in the country have a responsibility to ensure they provide quality teachers.

And, the education kits will assist them in this regard.

“We also need to work much more closely in terms of getting the teacher training institution to do their work properly and that goes from the point to which they enroll people who want to become teachers, but we also need to have teachers with heart and passion. For many people teaching has become a job and there is a substantial difference.”

Australian High Commissioner to Fiji John Feakes says the provision of the education kits will have a huge impact on students’ lives.

“They provide building blocks for populations to be productive contributors to their community and economy as part of a productive labor force.

The literacy and numeracy resources, funded by the Australian Government, is part of the 110 sets of literacy and numeracy kits being distributed to 91 selected schools and five teacher training institutions across Fiji.

The Australian Government in partnership with the Fijian Government are working together to fulfill Fiji’s 5-year and 20-year National Development Plan in literacy and numeracy.