Finishing Undergrad (...Delayed Post...)

It’s been a while since I have blogged. Well I am now starting with post graduate studies, but I think I will put info about that in my next post. I was unable to publish an earlier post (which I was supposed to have posted last year :( ), but I still have bits and pieces of it below: 

Alas, this is my final year as a degree level student in Fiji! Three years have just flown by and frankly I find it difficult to imagine what life is going to be like once I finish my exams (and that is like a month from now!). This is in fact the final week of classes, and we are soon to start attachments at big firms and companies, to have a guarantee for jobs. (I was able to get an attachment with a really good firm, and I had a wonderful experience working.) 

I am feeling the pressure of being a final year student with so many intensive assignments due at the same time, and having to ration time out between family commitment and studying. Anyways.....

So, what has three years been like, as a tertiary (undergrad) student in a small country like Fiji? The three years were interesting enough: getting to know people and making friends, struggling with assignments (long long essays), studying for subjects I had never even thought existed, running around with cameras, lights and the likes, sitting in front of the PC and gradually losing my eyesight... It was pretty exciting. Maybe at times, it got a bit strenuous. But still enjoyable.

High school life had seemed so safe. Everything was done for you, teachers wrote notes for you on the blackboard, knew you by name,told you what was best for you. Varsity life has been so different. Lecturers who were teaching classes of 60 students did not need to remember names, instead you are known by your student ID numbers. They do not spoon-feed you, but drive you to go out into the field and actually do something.  It was like being thrown into the deep end, but at the same time it was something to look forward to. So many good things came out of it. I learned to initiate contact with strangers and become internet-savvy, something which a typical high school in a developing country rarely offers to female students, as opposed to high schools in first world countries. I learned to use research databases at varsity, (which we do not really have access to in high school) and to this day I feel I stumbled upon a treasure chest the day I discovered these amazing sites.

My three years at university have been all in all a wonderful experience. I hope that when I continue academia, and pursue further studies, I will enjoy it just as much.

Exam Time = Panic Time!

The semester is coming to an end! Exams are just around the corner! Students are running around here and there, trying to borrow books from the library to brush up on their knowledge which they gained throughout the term. Lecturers are being continuously badgered for notes which the students were unable to access because they did not attend lectures. Yes, exams are definitely here!

The most important, demanding and stressful feature of a student's life is examination. It is the deciding factor for a student who wants to move up in the academic field. Many students define it as the 'scary' period of student life, because it is the one thing that truly tests the ability and capability of a student. It is only during the exam time, one sees students running around, looking stressed, living on junk food, and taking their books to bed with them. It is during this time, students truly neglect their health and study 'last-minute'.

The problem with students these days is that they have a relaxed attitude towards their studies throughout most of the semester and when exam time comes, they start to panic. Michael Eisen, the founder of The Youth Wellness Network, says students panic due to the pressure of not having studied beforehand and this panic causes students to worry more.

Panic creates even more stress. Without ever taking a proper break to restore the balance in their minds and bodies, a boiling point is inevitable. Not to mention, even if they manage to get through this period of unease and write a test successfully, there is very little chance they will retain much of what they just studied.

A good student is one that stays up to date with all his notes, and makes the effort to learn and to know more. If one does this, it becomes easier for that person during study-break and exam time. But the one who does not do this, relaxes throughout the semester, and simply does not worry about coursework marks, immediately becomes active the moment exam time comes around. That is the time when students wreck their heads, trying to cram information in order to pass their exams. Or they make plans to copy or cheat in the exams.

Time management and organization are indeed very important, especially if a student has to prepare for examinations. Sadly, this is not the case with students here in Fiji. Most are just not motivated, and plainly speaking, not interested. It is very disheartening to know students nowadays are not motivated. As a current student myself, I also feel the pressure, the occasional headaches that result from trying to overload all the information, but in the end we all have to realize that we are doing all this to create a better future for ourselves.

I remember tales my parents would tell me about the difficulties they faced when they were studying, that because their parents were not educated, the only options they had were either study and make your own future or get married, and work in the farm. This was their motivation and today my parents are both educators at prominent institutions. Because of the need to be something more than just farmhands, they did their utmost best to study and sit through tough exams like the Cambridge Examination.

Students these days do not have the same motivation as the previous generation did, nor have most of them been through the same situation of poverty and helplessness. However every student should have the initiative to prepare well for tough times, in the case of student life, examinations. It has been said "If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail". Preparation, organization and motivation are the best tools for a student. Armed with these three weapons, any student would be able to easily overcome and do well in examinations.

Student Favouritism...Unfair Teachers!

Favoritism is an increasing problem! You need to be exceptionally good at what you do, or you need to pay compliments to get your way through. Either way, one still earns the favor of the boss, lecturer, or whoever is on top. Unfortunately the case of favouritism is also present in the school environment, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. 

 “Most of the counselors are the kiths and kin of the administrative or clerical staff who are not qualified enough to teach the subject. It is the clerical staff who run the affairs of this study centre and even have the say in appointing the counselors and allotting marks to the students in the assignments according to their choice,” sources said.

The student who is either the top scorer or loves to gush to a teacher ‘Oh how pretty you look today’ or ‘I agree with what you said regarding a so-and-so student’s assignment, and I will do my best to meet your expectations’. If a student is successful at all this, he/ she wins the favour of the teacher. In other words, that student becomes the ‘teacher’s pet’. And thereon, that student becomes the lead example (in the teacher’s eyes) of an ideal student and role model that others should be looking up to. What the teacher does not know is that other students start hating that student because he/ she becomes too pompous, and because it is just not fair! Why should that student be treated exceptionally, when a teacher is supposed to be unbiased and treat everyone equally?

The ‘pet’ always gets his or her way with the teacher, be it regarding extension of assignment due dates, being chosen as team leader for a study group or competing for attention. I remember a classmate of mine who was a particular favorite of my Economics teacher. It was just a scene to watch, when the teacher would always ask her to conduct class activities, and write notes on the board, and give suggestions to what the student’s homework should be. She would also be asked to collect our books, and help with marking some of our internal assessments, and give orders on what graphs we had to draw and study in Economics. And obviously she would know what is coming in the term paper, and would study as much as she could, and would never ever hint at what could be coming. And the teacher… well she was quite a character as well. She would actually cut off marks from other students so there would be a big gap between them and her dear pet. I used to score good marks before that teacher took my classes, and when she marked my paper, my marks had dipped from 87 to 58. I think that is a big gap, and she would not even give us half marks! And I sure as hell, started to hate the subject. Unfortunately for the pet, she scored lower than most of us in the national exams.

However, being the teacher’s pet does have its perks. I loved language and my teacher loved the fact that I loved learning and actually bothered about the grammar and syntax of a sentence. That got me in to oratory contests and debates, and recognition as a good language student. 

Nonetheless, it is just not fair that one student gets favored, because everyone comes to school to learn and not be treated differently from others. Teachers are oblivious to the fact that other students suffer and go through hell, because they are competing with one student who since holds the teacher’s favor, will obviously get the highest mark, and will be used as an example to ridicule them. Stop being so political, dear teachers; it’s unfair, unhealthy, unethical and immoral. And it is downright insulting to other teachers who are fair to students. Maybe there should be a law in Fiji that bans teachers from practicing favoritism.

Tardy students

Student life can be so hectic at times. Assignments, examinations, in-class activities, as well as homework; these are all features of a student’s life. But in today’s context, the most important thing for students is to be in class on time. Tardiness is among the biggest concerns of the education sector in Fiji. If a student is late, he or she misses out on what is being taught in class.  Now teachers are taking matters in their own hands, by dismissing students from class if they are late. 

Teachers have the right to keep students out of class if they arrive late to school. This is according to the Ministry of Education after Fijivillage raised the issue that some students who arrive even 5 minutes late to school, are given detention or told to stay outside the classroom by teachers which leads to them missing out on the lessons taught. 

Students often give their reasons for coming late, as ‘I missed my bus’ or ‘travelling from far’. Some of them are genuine, while others have in fact been goofing around town, and deliberately reaching school late. I was sometimes late to high school because I travelled from Baulevu, in the interior of Nausori, to a reputable school in Suva. It was extremely embarrassing, especially when all the students would look up when the teacher (whoever would be taking the morning class) would look at my late arrival form, and say (sarcastically) “Oh this is why you are late today? How about you make an arrangement with the school to provide you boarding so that you are at least in time for classes?”.

Most of the teachers would not want to understand why the student is late, but would focus on the statement, that the student is late, and has missed a very important piece of my class, and therefore will have to be in detention. Many would quietly endure doing the classroom duties in the afternoon, but there is always that burden, that humiliation the student feels when the teacher tries to pin him/ her down for coming late and making a scene in front of everyone. 

Yet, there are those students who are deliberate truants. They simply do it for the ‘fun’ of it. Going to billiard shops, net- cafes, or the movies. In that case, when students are late, they do deserve to be told off by teachers, and given punishment. But when it comes to genuine cases, teachers mark the students and note their names in the ‘black book’. 

Tardiness is not something one promotes, but punishment depends on the situation. Occasional tardiness does call for some sort of punishment, because there comes a time when students truly do need to get their priorities right. After all, a school is an institution of order and discipline and students need to be abide by its rules. But it is not right for teachers to hand out punishment which requires them to do manual labour such as cutting the grass in school, or cleaning up when the duties were to be done by someone else. Rather, they should be handing out tasks that relate to academia, and would help students improve, in their classes, and make them willing to attend classes. If a teacher is indeed concerned about the student, he or she would be willing to understand the student’s situations and help with the problem of tardiness.

Time for a change!

Fiji's School Curriculum needs an overhaul! We have borrowed a lot from our colonizers, Britain, and integrated their system into our policies but it is high time we did something about the outdated curriculum.

Fiji, for the past century, has followed the British education system, and the curriculum has still not changed. Dr. Robin Taylor has put forward the issue of using a 150- year old system, which is not suited to today's time, and current context.

Today's education was developed and relevant to an industrial revolution that occurred about 150 years ago. Such an education enabled the children of that time to: Read, wRite and do aRithmetic ù the so called three 'r's. This would allow them to follow written instructions efficiently or indeed to write them. Discipline was strictly maintained because this allowed order to be maintained, which is required if you're busy in factories manufacturing textiles, steel or ships and consistency and uniformity is the golden prize.

Students' interests have evolved dramatically and moved onto more practical, creative, and innovative fields, other than the more traditional, conventional subjects like Maths and English. Students are starting to ask why vocational subjects, and more specified and detailed subjects such as Marine Science and Media Studies are not taught.

Having been through the system myself, I have been extremely frustrated with the limited scope of learning, here in Fiji. I was practically told to choose this subject and that subject, because 'a science subject is not compatible with an arts subject'.

Students are not offered with options of doing subjects which would peak their interests. Rather, they are put into the dilemma of choosing between two fields 'Science' and 'Arts'. They do not have the choice of trying out a few subjects and experimenting to know which they would most likely want to build their career in.They are not given a chance to show what their strengths are.

Even children at Primary level, are drilled into believing that their vocation lies in either Science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Technical Drawing) or Arts (Economics, Accounting, History, Geography). This distinction has ruled the lives of products of the Fiji education system for years.

Unfortuately, this is still the case, because the the foundation for this unfair situation is the curriculum itself, which if not overhauled, will continue to undermine the hidden talents and interests of current students as well as those in the future.

If Fiji want to keep up to par with the international educational standards, then it has to do away with the strict old British system of limited learning. Countries like Australia and New Zealand have cleverly modified the traditional British education structure by including more hands-on subjects into the curriculum. True, they are developed countries. But if Fiji, a developing country, wishes to attain the same position as these two developed countries, than obviously, Fiji needs to have a similar education structure in place.

That means, whilst including newer, more 'fun' subjects, the curriculum should be more accomodating and have the students interests' at its core, rather than just looking at the overall development of the education system itself. Otherwise, Fiji will still be producing students with a limited learning base, simply because our system does not cater for a wider, variant, and broader knowledge base.

The true purpose of having an education system in place is to nourish a student's thirst for knowledge. We are killing the keenness and spontaniety of student life, if we stick to the same 150- year old curriculum.

But then, again, the Ministry of Education is doing its best, to update the curriculum..... students may now have a chance to participate in a new programme about to be introduced. What's that? A fashion school programme.... how innovative! We really are taking the students interests at heart!