Page 27 - IB January 2022

Education Education

istry of Education and some teachers personally contributed later.
to provide data packages to students. There are other children out there, whose parents do not
The availability of devices, computers or a phone with have jobs and who do not have food or internet. These are
internet was a major problem for friends in our Suva-based the children who have been affected the most as they have
primary and secondary schools. In some cases, students had had almost no schooling. That schools have closed again may
only one device that was compatible with Zoom, Google class- be okay since many of us have not been vaccinated as Fiji ran
room or Viber. This made it hard for those who had a sibling or out of the Pfizer vaccines for primary school-aged children
household member that had a class at the same time. last Christmas.
In family discussions we kept hoping if possible, the
decision-makers could import inexpensive devices that are Conclusion: A plea to parents
compatible with the learning resources used and lend it to the When the internal exams started for secondary students,
Ministry to loan it to students who needed it. most students were stressed out. It was frightening as we
Students were sometimes at fault also; we either woke were sitting full scale exam papers, even though we missed
up too late or forgot or sometimes ignored the classes. This many classes after the shutting down of schools, with the
and the problem of available devices and data was worse for lockdowns and related experiences.
primary school students. When receiving our results, we had dropped drastically
in our performance as most of us received marks that were
2022 and a new year surprisingly low, by our own standard. Due to the current
We were all buzzing with excitement when it was an- circumstances, one must empathise that while everyone has
nounced that schools were to reopen on the first of November been affected by the pandemic, we students have lost on
for Years 12s and 13s. Some of us posted on social media almost a year of schooling. The expectation from the school
stories and pictures relating to our schools with captions such and parents remain high though. We did our best and we will
as “Back to Base” in anticipation for the reopening. We all try to do better.
started to get ready for a challenge, and to experience this “I do not expect things to calm down just yet but it would
other ‘new normal’, after nine months out. be better if things calmed down sooner than later,” said Lota-
On the first day, some students did not come as they were rakuita Saurara, a Year 7 student. But this pandemic is part of
having their 2nd jab on that day. Most of us wanted to shake all our lives. It is up to us to see whether it affects us nega-
hands or in the iTaukei slang “Dre” but knew better as we tively or if we can rise up against it and make the best out
were still in the midst of a battle against the pandemic. It was of it. It has been noted that the sooner we learn to live with
tough for the higher forms as the pressure of the annuals and this scourge the better it will be for all of us. It is necessary
the external (exams) were and continue to haunt us. A year that the people of Fiji and of Earth must come together (not
12 student described coming back to school as “difficult due literally) and implement ‘herd immunity’ against COVID-19.
to the fast re-learning of the syllabus”, as indeed it was, since To do this, we must all get vaccinated, including our primary
schools had to cover within three to four weeks, a year of school-aged children and those others that make up our popu-
learning, to sit for a full scale annual paper. lation. Only then can it be regarded in the same way as, say,
the common flu; that is something that is always there but is
The unjabbed primary school student no longer life-threatening.
It has been a difficult story for public primary school If there is one glaring thing with education under COVID-19,
students too. The pandemic has affected primary students in it is the huge information divide in Fiji between the vast ma-
many ways, but most of all it has affected our education. Not jority of ordinary Fijian students who go to public schools and
being at school for over a year has meant some of us have lost those that go to the few private schools in Fiji. Our Govern-
our ability to wake up early. Studying from worksheets given ment and parents should invest in and make information tech-
by the schools hasn’t been regular either and we had to do nology and online learning a part of our normal learning from
them largely on our own, especially when both our parents primary schools. If we fail, then the ordinary students of Fiji
were busy with their own work. Having an older brother will be left behind while the rich move ahead, as will the rest
helped in our case as he helped with marking. of the world. Investment into student information technol-
Zoom classes of forty minutes were held once a week, and ogy classes will go a long way to meeting the challenges and
was the highlight of our long school break. My first class was disruptions caused to education due to events like COVID-19.
exciting as I got to see some of my friends and our teacher It will also make bring some equality to education among all
left us to play around with zoom and talk to each other after students in Fiji. This is important as education is one of the
our first class. great equalisers of the conditions for all humankind.
As 2022 began, we prayed all was going to be normal again,
but now we have a third wave and we have had a cyclone Epeli Vakalalabure is a year 12 student and Lotarakuita
with floods and classes have all been cancelled again. I do not Saurara is a year 7 student at schools in Suva. Epeli is currently
blame the teachers of my school and these are tough times preparing for his final external exams.
and everyone has been affected in many ways. From my point
of view this is quite bad. I do hope things change sooner than editor@islandsbusiness.com

Islands Business, January 2022 27