Fiji

The situation for children

The political crisis in Fiji in 2000 pushed many families into poverty, as thousands lost their jobs. Consequently, the access to quality education for Fijian children has been severely hindered.

Save the Children New Zealand is financially supporting three projects that are managed by Save the Children Fiji to help as many children as possible exercise their right to an education.

Helping preschoolers learn through play

As a result of unemployment, many families are financially unable to send their children to preschool. This situation is compounded by many community preschools closing down as a result of little financial assistance from the government.

In response to the growing need for preschool education in poorer Fijian communities, Save the Children set up an NZAID-funded mobile playgroup, which operates in Suva and Labasa.

The playgroup consists of a preschool teacher and field worker visiting low-income communities to deliver free preschool education to children under 5. Parents and guardians are encouraged to participate and undertake training to assist staff with groups of up to 60 children. In addition, the field workers discuss the development of the children with parents, offering childcare advice and referring children with particular health needs.

Underpinning the project is the aim to promote long term sustainability and community ownership of the playgroups. This is achieved through the establishment and support of Parents’ Clubs and Pre-School Committees. These groups consist of parents who are involved in the playgroups and are therefore aware of the enormous benefits of early childhood education for their children.

One of the original target communities in Suva has already become independent and is now running its own playgroups.

Providing textbooks to under-resourced schools

Meeting the cost of education is more than just funding school fees, uniforms and lunches. Unemployment in Fiji has led to the cost of resources, such as textbooks, becoming a real barrier to Fijian children attending school.

Save the Children Fiji works closely with the Ministry of Education to identify the neediest schools. After assisting the school with a start up fund to purchase the text books, Save the Children helps each school to set up a system for hiring and maintaining the books.

The textbooks are hired out to the children for a minimal charge which is subsidized for the most disadvantaged families. The money raised from the hire charge is used to sustain the scheme by maintaining and replacing books when necessary.

Vatuwaqa Primary School Sanitation

Suva’s Vatuwaqa Primary School caters for over 230 children from squatter settlements and low-cost housing developments within the city.

Economic hardship and lack of support from government for school maintenance has meant that Vatuwaqa’s sanitation facilities are in a state of disrepair. Children are not only at risk of serious injury should the weak structure collapse, but they also suffer from bacterial infections and intestinal parasites.

Save the Children has contracted a local builder and involving members of the local community in the installation of a block of five flush toilets and a septic tank at the primary school. Sanitation helps to create a school environment that is conducive to learning, while minimizing health risks and encouraging appropriate, sanitary waste disposal.