Education will remain free in Fiji - Bainimarama

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama has assured students of Navuso Primary School that education will remain free in Fiji.

Bainimarama stated this while commissioning the teachers' quarters at the Navuso Primary School in Navuso Village.

Bainimarama says a few years ago, Navuso Primary School was occupied only by children whose parents could afford school fees, the cost of transportation and the cost of textbooks and even some boys and girls could not afford to be sitting in a place where they are sitting right now.

He says the government has brought in the Free Education Scheme to take care of such worries from parents.

He adds these achievements along with unprecedented funding to loans and scholarships – has spurred a revolution in education, with a record enrolment in primary schools, secondary schools, and tertiary institutions. 

He says with the commissioning of the new teachers' quarters, teachers can now focus on teaching instead of worrying about their own well being.

Bainimarama says the new energy teachers bring will be felt by each of their students as sometimes, all it takes is that extra push from a motivated teacher to inspire a passion for maths, sciences, or arts and this will stay with a young person for the rest of their life. 

He highlighted this year the government has allocated $13.8 million towards location allowances for primary and secondary teachers in remote areas and this year they have including early childhood education teachers in this initiative for the first time ever, with $500,000 for their location allowances.