School enrolment numbers increase after free education policy - Reddy

Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy says enrolment numbers in schools have shot up after the introduction of the government’s free education policy.

He says schools are given grants per student which is used by them to uplift their resource base, make developments to the physical environment and invest in the educational necessities of the children.

145,055 students are enrolled for primary education this year compared to 134,029 in 2011.

Reddy says the increase in enrolment at primary level is a clear indication that more children are getting into the school system.

There are 65,915 students enrolled for secondary education this year compared 66,244 in 2011.

Dr Reddy says the secondary school enrolment has a fluctuating trend.

He says there was a significant increase in enrolment in 2014 which was 68,063.

Reddy says one of the major reasons for the drop in secondary enrolment in 2017 is that many students are moving out to Technical Colleges.

He says the pathway for the secondary students to join Technical Colleges is made very easy.

Reddy says the number of students who are benefitting from the Toppers Scholarship Scheme and Loans Scheme has continued to increase from 2014.

16,860 students are benefitting from these schemes in 2017 compared to 5,326 in 2014.

Reddy says they are currently looking at ways on how they can manage class sizes in our schools in Fiji.

He says generally the class size is larger in the urban schools compared to the rural schools for both primary and secondary schools.

Reddy says the problem of large class size is in some schools between the Suva-Nausori corridor.

He says some schools located in the Suva-Nausori corridor have very large class sizes while some have very small class size.

Reddy says the problem of overcrowding is not due to lack of space but because of parents preference for a particular school over the others.

He also highlighted that the Ministry inherited a large number of schools, particularly those in the interior and maritime zones which had been neglected of basic annual maintenance.

Reddy says they provided financial assistance for a total of 276 projects amounting to $6.9 million in 2015 while they have assisted 278 school projects amounting to $6.1 million in 2016.