It says a great deal about the lack of home-grown expertise in Fiji that the greatest living authority on the iTaukei language is a “vulagi” – the distinguished Dr Paul Geraghty, Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of the South Pacific.
As the nation from the top down wrings its hands about the miserable performance of our young people in the Year 8 examinations – a pass rate of just 69 per cent – Professor Geraghty has entered the debate with a letter to the Fiji Times. But the solution he proffers is astonishing – that the English curriculum or syllabus be abandoned and replaced by “local languages” – the vernacular iTaukei or Fiji Hindi. Or does that also include Chinese or Rotuman?
Dr Geraghty has long been a proponent of encouraging iTaukei citizens, in particular, to speak their own language, and has warned that unless young people are encouraged to use it on a daily basis, the iTaukei language is in danger of dying out. But it is another thing altogether to effectively advocate the abandonment of English as the principal teaching method in our schools.
English is the official national language of Fiji for a good reason. It isn’t just because Britain was the coloniser and English was imposed on the nation in the same way as French was imposed in New Caledonia and France’s other Pacific possessions. English is the official language in Fiji because it is the common language that everyone speaks, irrespective of ethnicity. And as such, it remains essential to national unity.
Yet even more important is the fact that English is the language of our larger neighbours – Australia and New Zealand – plus a great many of our Pacific neighbours and much of the rest of the world as well. In fact, the whole world, if it doesn’t already speak English, is trying to learn it simply because it has become the main universal means of communication that binds the planet together. It is the fastest growing language and without it, people working in a great many fields are at a distinct disadvantage.
So by all means, Professor Geraghty is right to encourage more Fijians, and especially our young people, to learn the vernacular languages and iTaukei in particular because they are now the majority population. But he is dead wrong – in Grubsheet’s humble opinion – to advocate that English be replaced with “local languages” in our schools.
Language is not just about keeping individual cultures alive. It is about currency and the ability to communicate across cultural boundaries and in the world at large. And that isn’t achieved by a small nation in the Pacific cutting itself off from the world by abandoning the dominant means of global communication in its schools and retreating into itself to embrace a language, in the case of iTaukei, that isn’t spoken anywhere beyond Fiji (other than the diaspora).
It is, in fact, the quickest way to condemn Fiji to irrelevance in our own region and beyond. We can never be a “smart country” if our children are taught in the “local languages” instead of English. On the contrary, it would be a fast-track to becoming the dumbest country in the region as we fall further and further behind our neighbours in English proficiency.
Imagine Fijians who have been taught in “local languages” in our schools having to cut it in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Britain, South Africa and anywhere else in job markets that are already highly competitive and depend on people having proficiency in English. Fijians would simply be left behind. Or left out altogether.
The answer to the crisis in our schools isn’t to abandon the English curriculum but to embark on a concerted effort to raise the proficiency of spoken and written English, which has declined alarmingly over the past few decades because of the collapse of teaching standards and a population that simply doesn’t read. So yes, iTaukei should be taught in our schools but not at the expense of English.
Paul Geraghty is inarguably a national treasure because of his expertise in iTaukei. But he is a kai valagi who has genuinely gone native to publicly argue that English cease to be the main language in our schools. His ideas may be music to the ears of iTaukei nationalists who are trying to impose their language and customs on the one third of the nation that isn’t iTaukei. But in my opinion, they are misguided and certainly not in the national interest or the interests of anyone who wants their children to get the best possible chance of succeeding in the world at large.
A long history of advocacy for the iTaukei language but is he right about abandoning English as the main language in our schools?
NOTE OF EXPLANATION:
This article should not be construed as being anti-iTaukei or a slur on anyone else who speaks a local language. Those who remember my late father, the Rev Peter Davis, will know that he was a fluent iTaukei speaker to the extent that some people who heard him preaching on the radio believed he was iTaukei.
In my own case, I spoke iTaukei before I spoke English growing up in the vanua. But I remain grateful to this day for the high standard of English taught in schools in Fiji at the time. Because, among other things, it enabled me to become a lead bulletin writer at that temple of the English language – the BBC World Service – by my mid-twenties. And to bore the tits off my readers here half a century later.
The downside is that I long ago lost my fluency in iTaukei. The old adage “use it or lose it” is never more apt than with the use of language. But losing proficiency in English in a world where English has never been more important would be a particular folly.
I reckon the whole world should be speaking the ITaukei language. It is the best language and given to a special people by God himself. It is just like the iTaukei version of Christianity which is the best version in the world as well – except that is a vulagi religion.
And how do you write the iTaukei language – using English characters of course. Or should that be in Hebrew characters? Because iTaukei really are Israelites living in the Pacific practicing Christianity and are God’s chosen people. Confused?
Vulagis won’t understand. It is very clear to the iTaukei. Just ask Bill Gavoka and the talatala on TV or in churches all over Fiji. In fact, ask Paul Geragthy. We vulagis just will never get it when it comes to matters iTaukei. Only the iTaukei can fix their own problems. The PM has been doing a wonderful job for the last 37 years. It is unfinished business – just ask PM.
This guy is an idiot. Imagine in 20 years if what he says are implemented. We can say bye bye to tourism and BPO.
Imagine if your server at a 5 star hotel cannot communicate with you or understand your food and beverage order. Imagine the call centre worker who cannot speak a word of English. In both scenarios the economic impact would be catastrophic.
Look at India, most speak very good English and also know their mother tongue.
Where do these idiots come from and state something without thinking of the deep economic consequences.
English is universal and must always remain the common denominator in Fiji.
This represents another attempt at ‘dumbing down’ Fiji’s population. And it’s coming from the same people who sold us the idea that Jesus Christ was a blue-eyed and blond-haired white man (palagi).
How would Paul Geraghty teach Shakespeare in iTaukei or Hindi? Maths? What’s calculus and algebra in itaukei? And chemistry? Physics?
What’s tirgnometry – sin cos tan in itaukei or fiji hindi? And whats accrual accounting in itaukei? Law of diminishing returns in economics? The point being that itaukei and other local vernacular, although lovely spoken languages, cannot even comprehend the depth and history of English and other languages, and other aspects of school curriculum. As a teacher fluent in itaukei and fiji hindi, I can humbly say that this thinking of Paul is not only warped but is being made to please his itaukei “buddies”. Consultancy in the pipeline?
There is concern at the high rate of failure in year 8 exams indicates to me that a high percentage of these failures are ITaukei. Teachers can only be responsible for the quality of teaching they impart during school hours. What control do parents have over their children after school. Do they check that their child does the homework? Do they provide a quiet area at home for studying? Do they supervise their child’s homework? Do they know where their children are after school ? It would be unfair to put the entire emphasis on teachers only.
Another over educated and too smart profissori. Why in the world would you think of eliminating the universally spoken and accepted mode of communication, i.e English!!
He’s playing right into the hands of the agenda of the extreme ethno nationalists. How much more crazier can things get.
As Rabuka scratches his marbles thinking why the pass rates are so low, he needs to just look at his appointments to the relevant ministries. These guys couldn’t even organise a birthday party even if they were given balloons, cakes, lollies, fizzy drinks, and $500.
What a shambles, and with all due respect, Prof Geraghty, please keep up the good work with your current hobbies. Please refrain from advocating for the abandonment of the use the language you and your ancestors brought to Fiji. English it has and English will remain.
I think you misunderstand Paul Geraghty’s comments. Yes, he and many others are concerned that “local” languages will be lost, to the vast detriment of society, but he and others have for years been calling for children in Fiji to be taught in their vernacular language because extensive international research categorically proves that this greatly enhances their capacity to learn, including their ability to learn English.
It’s not about not learning English; it’s about better equipping students for learning altogether, including learning English. Obliging students to be educated in a language they don’t use in daily life has demonstrably failed. Our children’s education would be transformed, with all kinds of benefits for society in general, if education policy and teaching methods were based on scientific evidence rather than emotion or – worse- obsolete colonial attitudes.
“Colonial attitudes”? I was with you until then.
“Scientific evidence”? What scientific evidence? In what country with a British institutional heritage has the education of young people been improved by abandoning English as the principal language in the classroom?
You say this is “proven”. Kindly present us with the detailed evidence.
Well you can start with New Zealand, where a generation of Maori kids have received all their primary and secondary education in Maori. Many of these people are now playing a huge part in the regeneration of Maori language and culture, to the great benefit of the economic and social life of the whole country. I don’t have the time to dig up research papers, but you will find few professional educators in NZ unaware of this issue and of the demonstrable benefits of vernacular instruction. In Fiji not so much, but there are some, and Paul Geraghty has been a standard-bearer for decades.
It is mainly ignorance and ideology that preserve the status quo.
That is all very well in a country the size of New Zealand where Maori with exclusively Maori educations can clearly be accommodated in the local workforce. But Fijians are increasingly being obliged to look beyond their own shores for work. And I am yet to grasp how it benefits them in the Australian and NZ job markets, for instance, to have less knowledge of English, not more.
Accusing me and other in these columns of being motivated “mainly by ignorance and ideology” is nonsense. Fiji is a small island nation where portability of skills and the currency of language are critically important to our future. As is unity and the principle of one nation rather than a process of Balkanisation into separate cultural groups.
Would certainly benefit the English language training providers in Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand this year has implemented English requirements for skill level 4 and 5 work permit applications an added cost for job seekers who have to undertake English learning course and pass a test to be eligible.
Imagine people trying to migrate if English is not the form of communication for work business related purposes. A family would be burdened with extra costs to upskill and meet immigration requirements. Some people just don’t understand the repercussions of suggesting anything just to fulfill their nationalistic fantasies. Nothing wrong with learning the mother tongue of different races as long as it’s not forced down our throats. How that will benefit on the global stage is what matters.
RJT your reasoning is misplaced.
Surely, you’re not suggesting native Fijian society needs ‘regeneration of language and culture’.
Natives never seem to run out of excuses to find fault in others or point to reasons other than their abject failure to apply themselves in life.
Native Fijians have developed unto zombies since the advent of the internet-it is no secret porn dominates their time. Other online platforms are dominated by natives in large numbers spewing rubbish and hatred in ENGLISH.
Who has failed the natives in Fiji?
-Chiefs?
-GCC?
-Ministry of itaukei affairs?
-Fijian affairs board?
-Ministry of Education
-Curriculum development unit?
-Fijian teachers association?
-Various church denominations?
The problem has nothing to do with the English language. Same as even if the instructions are taught in Chinese or Hindi.
Besides, in all rural native Fijian schools, isn’t itaukei already the language of instruction? Translate the examination into itaukei if you wish-for the benefit of the itaukei, and give them another leg up in society.
Therein lies the problem- too many easy fix ‘solutions’, no real, sustained, persistent desire to educate your children, to push them to improve results, cut back on internet time, check home work, supervise school work, meet with teachers to seek way to help your child.
Here a novel idea- have your child take extra lessons in any subject areas they may be in need of. This will of course require extra dollars and time. Better still do it yourself. Make sacrifices. Relying on primitive solutions from the Geretis of this world is not going to work.
There are no shortcuts, just wrong cuts. iTaukei medium of instruction is the wrong cut. Do not disadvantage your child before they begin their lives.
Otherwise, its best to please leave the rest of us alone to go about our education and business in English. Do not impose your culture and language on the rest of us, the same as the rest do not impede on your right to your culture and language.
Stop blaming the language. Find solutions to areas of weaknesses/concerns to remedy the failing grades. Get all your native institutions involved to brain storm solutions.
What guarantees are there the itaukei language of instruction will be the magic wand? Will there then be 100% itaukei pass rates? No!
As for Gereti, the less said the better. Walking around bare feet does not make one a genius.
Do not cut off the head to cure the headache!
It was Einstein who said if you can’t explain the most difficult of concept to a nine year old kid for him to understand you don’t really understand the concept yourself. Once you can explain a difficult concept whether it is calculus, geometry, physics or chemistry and you are fluent in one of the vernacular languages you should be able to explain that concept to a child in the vernacular.
If do that all the time at my weekly kava club where I would introduce a topic in English and then for the benefit of my itaukei friends with limited English I would launch into an explanation in the itaukei language. Bingo. You could see their eyes light up when the saqa Moli finally drops.
It’s not rocket science.I blame teachers for the high failure rates of our Yr 8 students, they either too lazy or so full of themselves that they can’t make the extra effort to explain key “must knows” to students. Pathways should be established for teachers to go in for remedial training.
You are absolutely wrong in blaming the teachers. A recent clip of students throwing torn pages of their books out the bus window is not the teacher’s fault. Education and respect for it starts from home. There’s a reason why you have hands..to lift them up and to gain your teacher’s attention and ask questions when you don’t understand. Ask yourself if you’re out working would you blame your boss if you can’t complete your task?
Isa, that won’t work as Fiji Hindi and Bauan aren’t good foundations for curricula.
By all means encourage the teaching and use of mother tongues, but don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.
At Independence Fiji had a competitive advantage in that proficient teaching in English provided a strong basis to make it in the real world where English is the lingua franca (common language) of trade and a lot more. Fijians’ command of English spoken clearly and correctly has been much admired internationally.
Unfortunately, and to Fiji’s detriment, the prevalence of good English in the community has eroded over the years with too many of the best and brightest also being poached by affluent neighbours (with increasingly qase (aging) populations.
Look, hundreds of millions of people around the world are learning English as it provides opportunities for them. Many of them must wish they could speak it and write it as well as Fijians do. This competence in English has provided a solid platform for many countries to progress. Ask yourselves why in China learning English is so popular.
A time may come when Mandarin or something like Esperanto or ‘Franglish’ – whatever it is – becomes the lingua franca. It the meantime, it’s English guys. So let’s get with it and keep learning it properly Fiji. It’s an asset. Strengthen local languages, but don’t lose sight of the bigger picture and retreat into parochialism. Vinaka.
Why take away one advantage that we Fijians have?
You have no idea how useful the English language is until you travel overseas including to non-English speaking countries.
Most of our tourists are from English speaking countries. Bulk of our trading partners and most of the neighbors are English speaking. Let us not isolate our country even further.
Indigenous children are losing their language because they are not speaking it. You cannot blame the curriculum for that. Blame the parents.
Just like most of the ills in Fiji today. Parents not doing their parenting roles in teaching their children acceptable values. Because parents are too busy doing vanua soqos, lotu soqos, family soqos, attending kava bars and have no time spent with children for family time.
Therein lies the fundamental reason why we are losing our moral fabric.
Not so brilliant idea from the professor.
The majority of our population already suffers from the inability to think rationally and objectively. Let us not add another barrier to disable us even further.
Hear, hear.
I think all those who failed the Year 8 exams, will make excellent future leaders in the country based on recent appointments. They will be best equipped to be appointed to roles in government and the judiciary as they will have all the ‘right’ qualifications and experience to make Fiji the Zimbabwe of the Pacific. We all have to be patient as this is a slow process and it has been happening for 37 years but the job is not yet finished.
Students must have a good understanding of both languages. It is crucial for obvious reasons. A society can be no longer an island in today’s interactive world systems premised on instructive english- hence much is needed for global integration. On the other hand,, we need for the progressive inculcation of the vernacular for cultural longevity. But as for the emphasis on meritocracy , I think Fiji does not really care about satisfactory progression as mandatory in life. We have set an extra ordinary precedent. Two more years of failing after year 8 and we have a benchmark. One can still be a popular leader with power and be pitchforked into PM position for some years. In the process, one can remain uncouth, thrash some long held cultural/institutional doctrines and retire to jail feeling messianic.
This is nothing short of appeasement. Most know by now that the etho-nationalists are growing in numbers, and it is the opportune time to get on their good (sure) side.
Being bilingual is actually good for your brain. Why the hell would you choose a path that effectively leads to dumbing down the populace?
Are we going to convert Year 12/13 Physics and Chemistry books into the native fijian language now?
Good luck with that.
When I did my engineering in USP, the head of department was an expat from Zimbabwe/ Nigeria (I can’t remember). And he had a great command of the English language.
Are we going to convert/ translate all of the Engineering literature as well?
How about people wanting to immigrate? Good luck with the IELTS test!
As a nation, we should be setting up the next generation for success.
I am a product of the Fijian education system from the 90s and 2000s. Can write, read, and speak Hindi. Can converse in the native Fijian language as well.
You are correct GD, there has been a drastic decline in quality.
Five minutes of silence for Paula Geraghty who always speaks the itaukei language with an annoying accent. Anyway it’s absolutely shocking to say the least that 6k students failed. Schools and subjects should be identified so that solutions can be found. Hopefully vulagis are not blamed for this debacle. Fault lies entirely with parents and the children. If they can think to fail, they can think to succeed as well.
The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Fiji announces that the Peoples Committees resolution, with the endorsement and approval of Divisional Assemblies, have proposed for approval of the Central Committee. The Central Committee decrees that a new program will be established that provides for publishing of all approved books,short stories and any paraphernalia that enhances learning of all languages and dialect in Fiji by sources within Fiji and outside. Each student and pre-schooler will be budgeted 50 – $100 per annum.
There will be total support for local story tellers and illustrators.
To control costs, printing will be sourced in India, Vietnam or the most competitive suppliers available.
Hahaha! Vinaka Ian. I needed that.
Fiji’s premier iTaukei boys school, QVS, is currently in a shambles. Bullying, drugs, abuse etc. are prevalent on campus as admitted by OB (Often Brutal Old Boy) Minister Radrodro in the news. So, kerekere Vaula, please explain how the iTaukei language as THE medium of learning and instruction can help reduce or even eliminate these issues over the coming years.
Is this only with males? What about at ACS, the premier iTaukei girls school?
And let’s remember these are the elite schools that received substantial government funding up till 2006 to support iTaukei students’ advancement, while vulagi schools like Suva Sangam with an 100% iTaukei student roll were allocated zero funds!
Prof Geraghty’s suggestion is so outrageously stupid it must be
April Fools Day.
This is all a red herring that distracts from the real concerns about the priorities with which families are raising their children – poor exam results, abysmal values inculcation reflected in the sick numbers of children being molested, etc etc…. but let’s fix everything with iTaukei language, the re-domination by the GCC because power will fix everything beyond politics including socio-cultural and economic ills, and removing the only principled Minister from the immigration portfolio and giving it to the ‘steady hands’ of the PM…honestly, all hope is lost.
Enjoying absolute power coupled with limited knowledge, many of our leaders appear more focused on securing their own interests than on serving the people. They seem to evade the transformative essence of holistic and modern education systems. Yet, little knowledge wielded with absolute power is not only dangerous but also a path to political self-destruction. Let us be clear: education is not merely about language. Language is only a medium of instruction. True education fosters creativity, resilience, respect, and leadership. It is not about how loudly one plays politics, especially when it is misguided or ill-conceived.
Observing the current trends in leadership and governance, it is disheartening to see a system that prioritizes political allegiance over merit. Passing students through exams to uphold the dominance of a privileged few—under the guise of positive discrimination—undermines the very fabric of education. Such policies signal a death knell for a nation like ours when decision-makers themselves lack a true understanding of education’s significance. Education, both formal and informal, should be a tool for empowerment, not a weapon of politicization.
The future of Fiji and its people hinges on the quality of its education. Destroying this foundation is easy; rebuilding it will take generations. The profound purpose of education must be understood and respected. Please, do not politicize education—democratize it! Reform of education towards Transformative Education (vuli veisau vakainaki) is the paradigm to adopt.
Regrettably, the quality of public discourse, particularly on matters as vital as education, leaves little room for optimism about our country’s future. May God bless Fiji—or what remains of it.
Professor Geraghty, I am intrigued by your recent scholarly work advocating for vernacular education as the way forward for Fiji. I trust that your arguments are carefully constructed and supported by evidence, addressing the potential impacts of this paradigm on the political, educational, economic, social, technological, and legal dimensions of modern education.
I sincerely hope this is not an attempt to engage in political posturing. I am familiar with your earlier contributions to Fiji, which have earned you significant respect. However, the opinions expressed in your recent publication appear to diverge notably from the perspective many have come to associate with your work.
I encourage you to continue presenting well-founded arguments, supported by robust evidence, so that we may all benefit from your extensive knowledge and insights. Thank you, Sir, for your commitment to advancing discourse on this important issue.
Paul Geraghty has been harping on this idiotic idea for ages now. How does he explain the English language proficiency of our locals from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s. Fiji people had good English skills and it was taught in English, not iTaukei or Hindi or any other language.
I would say Paul Geraghty is trying to perpetuate his employment duration here and to flatter the iTaukei.
Hmmm. I could be wrong, but my interpretation of what he has written is that teachers should teach the whole curriculum in the student’s first language. It wasn’t that English should be replaced, but that students need to be taught English so they can understand it (because it is not their first language).
Er, well let’s hear it from the man himself to clarify what he said to fit your own interpretation. But I think his letter to the FT was hardly unambiguous.
People don’t read in Fiji. During the 90s the population reading in Fiji was low. But now it is non-existent. Majority of the book stores in Suva don’t sell story books (because storybook
buying customers don’t exist). The bookstores only sell text books and stationary. The reading culture in Fiji doesn’t exist. Even worse is that people don’t know popular authors or their book series. The idiots of Fiji don’t know who R. L. Stine is and haven’t heard of Goosebumps. At a time like today, people have smart phones with them. It should be easy for them to read on their phones. The problem with the Fijians is that they have too much focus on their on languages. Almost everything they do is in their own language. Their focus on English as a language is low. The only time they focus on English is when they are listening to news, songs, watching movies, reading documents and text books, and communicating with someone who doesn’t speak their language.