Delainamasi Government School in Nasinu is the first school in Fiji selected by the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts for a Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) project.
Minister for Education Premila Kumar confirmed this during her visit to the Northern Division.
Ms Kumar said one of the best things that ever happened was the 2021-2022 revised budget, where the Ministry of Economy had given money to the Education Ministry to set up a school which would symbolise how a future classroom should look like.
She explained that this would be in terms of technology and the arrangement of the classroom where they want to move away from chalk and talk learning, to more discovery and creative learning.
“So we are setting up Year 1 at Delainamasi Government School as an example of how we can teach students using technology,” Ms Kumar said.
“We should be able to show that to the heads of schools and encourage them to use that model and advance teaching and learning in primary schools.”
She said they would start from lower classes and then move to high schools later.
Ms Kumar said they have just received the money for this project and a special team was working on logistics.
She said they were hoping to start the project soon but a definite time frame was yet to be confirmed.
Ms Kumar said we live in 21st century and it was more about technology.
“Considering the pace at which technology is developing and how technology is changing our lives and the way we do things, surely on that basis we need to change our education system,” she said.
“So that there is technological advance seen in classrooms, the way we teach our students and the way they are learning.”
Meanwhile, Ministry of Education’s permanent secretary Anjeela Jokhan has confirmed that about $108,000 has been allocated for the TEL project.
“The team is working on getting quotations for tablets and facilities and looking at different learning applications which would best suit the teachers, students and the classroom itself,” Ms Jokhan said.
School’s head teacher Aminio Kaivuaqava said to be selected was an honour and privilege.
“We are indeed looking forward to the project as it will greatly assist our children and most importantly it will equip them with IT skills which are needed in this age and era,” Mr Kaivuaqava said.
He said they have 1025 students with 25 teachers.
—-
