The Honourable Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, Dr Mahendra Reddy yesterday announced that all primary schools will have a kindergarten centre by the end of 2017.
Minister Reddy made the announcement while opening the new kindergarten centre at Nawai Public School.
“The government believes that early childhood education is vital in developing the intellectual capital of this nation. The government has and will continue to invest in the lives of the children of this nation. These children are the future of this nation and they should be given adequate resources to develop into their full capacity,” said Minister Reddy.
“With this vision in mind, we will work in collaboration with the communities and the schools to ensure that we have a kindergarten centre established in all primary schools by the end of 2017. We will also ensure that the free education grant extends to all these new centres. This will relieve the financial burden on the parents and ensure that all students have access to early childhood education.”
“This is the most important phase in the development of a child and this government is focussed on providing adequate and relevant resources to groom responsible Fijians who will push the frontiers and contribute significantly to the socio economic development of this nation.”
The Minister added that the government will continue to invest substantially in the education of the children of this nation to boost the national intellectual capital.