14,026 more students now in school system compared to 2013 - Reddy

Education Minister Dr. Mahendra Reddy says there has been a significant increase in the number of students attending primary and secondary schools from 2014 as a result of the Free Education Scheme.

While addressing parliamentarians today, Reddy stated that in 2013, they had 212,668 students in pre-schools, primary and secondary schools in Fiji, however, in 2014 this figure increased to 222,145.

Reddy says the enrolment numbers further increased in 2015 and the figure stood at 226,694 students last year.

He says 14,026 more students are now in the school system compared to 2013.

Reddy says this was only made possible by increasing the Free Education Grant for Schools from $19.1m in 2013 to $67.8m in 2016.

He says there should be no reason that schools in the interior or maritime zones lack facilities and resources in the medium term because the grants are given out to improve that.

Reddy adds that from 2014 to end of 2016, they had a total of 1,449 students under the Toppers Scheme.

He says this year they will have close to 630 students studying under this scheme.

The Education Minister says this scholarship is not ethnically based as were the past schemes.

Meanwhile, Opposition MP Mikaele Leawere claimed in his response that the Toppers and TELS Schemes are not helping itaukei students, especially those residing in remote and rural areas.

In his response NFP leader, Professor Biman Prasad says the Education Minister is sounding like an old record as he always talks about what they have done with the schools, provision of facilities and increase in grants.

Prasad stressed that teachers in the country are totally disappointed, demoralised and unhappy about the way in which some of the reforms have been undertaken.