Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama visited Navatusila District School (primary) and Reverend Thomas Baker Memorial Secondary School in Nanoko yesterday.
The visit was a follow-up on works carried out by the Fiji Military Forces engineers and to hear several needs from the school management and teachers.
Primary and secondary schools students lined the school green under the host sun to await the PM’s arrival.
Reverend Thomas Baker School principal Ratu Jo Gavidi then escorted Commodore Bainimarama on a tour of the premises.
“More military engineers will visit the school in February to assist men of Navatusila build another classroom block, which has already begun,” Commodore Bainimarama told parents and the vanua of Navatusila in Nubutautau.
“I would like to reiterate Government’s commitment on education. There is a need for us to work together in ensuring children are sent to school.
“The commissioning of electricity in Nubutautau is testament to this commitment.
“Students can now study under bright lights and not use electricity for watching movies,” Commodore Bainimarama said.
Ratu Jo in his submission to PM said the school was facing difficulties in harvesting pines planted on the school’s leased land for further development purposes.
Commodore Bainimarama reassured the school management that a team of government officials would visit landowners in Navala Village, Ba because of some confusion over lease monies distribution and land ownership.
He reminded elders and teachers there shouldn’t be any inference to any developments to the school and its property if the land had been leased for education purposes.
“Please remind those who want to disrupt developments to the school that the school is free to do anything on the land and benefit from it since it has leased the land,” Commodore Bainimarama said.
“Those who don’t comply and obstruct and try to benefit from what is not theirs’ can be prosecuted.”
The school also highlighted that dormitories were still shared by primary and secondary school students.
Ratu Jo told the Prime Minister they also needed to provide safe dormitories and housing for their teachers.
Navatusila tikina representative Savenaca Tuikubula said: “There were 68,000 pine trees planted by the vanua few years back to assist us in the development of the school.”
“A further 40,000 were planted by students and parents of the school.
“These were to be harvested for the construction of teachers quarters, dormitory and more classrooms.”
During a talanoa session with members of the vanua Commodore Bainimarama said Government would look into ways of providing further assistance to schools in Navatusila.
In 2008, the Minister for Education Mr Filipe Bole opened a new classroom block, which was donated by the Japanese and the Fiji Governments and built by the engineers of the Fiji Military Forces.
There are 80 students (both primary and secondary) from villagers in the district on Navatusila boarding at the school.
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