The Education Ministry is fully behind the initiative that trainee teachers should be fluent in the Hindi and Fijians languages.
Minister Filipe Bole said that teachers enrolling at the Fiji National University for next year will have to learn Hindi and Fijian to be able to teach the language in schools to fulfill the requirement.
Boles comment comes after FNU's Vice Chancellor Doctor Ganesh Chand commented in his speech during the first ever National conference on Education in Lautoka that from next year, the trainee teachers will not be able to get their graduation certificate unless they are fluent in both languages.
Dr Chand said that the level of competency in both languages would need to be at Fijian and Hindi Newspapers "Nai Lalakai and Shanti Dut" level.
Dr Chand said that this move was an initial university response to the number of challenges before Fiji, and in particular one that emerged for teachers in regard to the Peoples' Charter for Change and Development.
Dr Chand hopes that the step would be a strong motivation for other sectors of the society to play their part in ensuring a diverse society that also encourages unity.
He said without language understanding there is not much of a chance for the society to be united.
Dr Chand added that taking the message to the society at large, particularly the schools and the school management and the parents is a daunting task for everyone.
Story by: Sneh Chaudhry
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