SUVA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Teacher salary upgrades and grants for children in kindergartens have uplifted the quality of early childhood education and care in Fiji, Fijian Minister for Education Rosy Akbar said.
Akbar opened the Regional Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in the Pasifika Talanoa Symposium, in Nadi, Fiji's third largest town, on Wednesday and noted the great strides taken for the formative education of Fijian students.
"Today, ECEC is as important as any other education sector and given the topmost priority and funding by our government," Akbar said.
This year, the Fijian government gave a subsidy of 2.8 million Fijian dollars (1.2 million U.S. dollars) towards the tuition fees of students enrolled in registered ECEC centers.
Fijian Ministry of Education looks after 875 kindergartens, 19,102 students and 1,479 teachers, who are paid by the ministry and are under a reviewed salary rate, with a total of 23.4 million Fijian dollars (10.6 million U.S. dollars) budgeted for their salaries.
Akbar said this reflects the Fijian government's strong commitment to ECEC.
"This is a bold step taken by the Ministry of Education to empower these teachers to upgrade their academic qualifications and seek further training, the trickle-down effect finally to be enjoyed by the children," she said.
Akbar said children in recognized ECEC centers are provided free schooling and free transport accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The four-day symposium is organized by the University of the South Pacific.
Much has already been done across the Pacific in relation to addressing the sustainable development goals, and some progress has been in the context of early childhood teacher education.
The Pacific has actually come a long way in their commitment to ECEC.
The symposium aims to create a shared understanding among Pacific countries on the key issues, challenges and priorities in early childhood education teacher training and development that can help to inform the development of a common vision for inclusive and quality early childhood education in the region.
This vision will be used to articulate the standards needed and the specific support required by pre-primary teacher graduates and in-service teachers to better prepare them for their roles.
