Address by the President of RKSOld Scholars Association and
Chairman of the Board of Governors Ratu Seremaia Tui Cavuilati
Fijian Education has been top in the agenda of Government and
rightly so. As a top boarding school for indigenous Fijians,
Ratu Kadavulevu School has been a focus of attention by Government
as well as parents and old scholars, given the inconsistent
performance the school has had over the years. And there are
reasons for this, which the present management is trying with
the resources it has to effectively control and manage.
As
a Government school the expectations for much better performance
is not an unreasonable one.
The
old scholars of the School share the concerns of Government
and wish to make a difference for the better. The days to
simply sit and criticise are over. One has to be committed
and be involved if the change we all want for the improvement
of our lot in education if it is to be realised.
Whilst Government through the Ministry of Education is there
to see to the effective delivery of the School's core functions,
there are other equally important tasks outside of these which
the Old Scholars Association has taken upon itself to be responsible
for.
And for this the moral and spiritual enlightenment of our
young people ranks high to provide the balance to the educated
mind.
The
Old Scholars and parents will be converging at Suva's Civic
Centre foreshore on the morning of Saturday November 1st for
a fundraising drive. It is hoped that a sum of at least $200,000
will be collected for the completion of the School's Chapel.
In
this regard we wish to record our appreciation to the school
management, students and Old Scholars Association of Queen
Victoria School and Adi Cakobau for agreeing to participate
and assist the RKS Old Scholars Association and management
in their quest.
The
occasion will be an historic one where the three predominantly
indigenous Fijian schools are coming together for the first
time for such a noble and worthy course in support of Government's
affirmative action on Fijian education.
The
Chapel to be completed will not only be there for its traditional
use, a place of worship for the different denominations in
the school. Equally important is the fact that it will become
the springboard for moral and spiritual guidance as well as
counselling.
It
will become an icon for moral values and strength ensuring
that when the student passes out of Lodoni or Delainakaikai,
he departs a total young man, responsible citizen, with the
character and discipline to face the vagaries of a cruel world,
and still come out a winner.
The lack of such upbringing or the determination to inculcate
such necessary values and ethics have seen the downfall of
many recent students leaving boarding Schools for tertiary
institutions resulting in unnecessary waste of investment
by both parents and Government.
The
RKS Old Scholars Association and the Board of Governors are
grateful to the Honorable Prime Minister and his Government
through the Hon. Minister for Education and senior staff of
her ministry for the recent decision to consider RKS as a
Centre of Excellence for Technical Education. We are equally
thankful for the work that has already started in the upgrading
of the infrastructures at the School. RKS has now embarked
on a path of renewal and re-vitalisation.
The
Old Scholars should and will play its part as the group of
Old scholars currently helping out in motivational and mentoring
program are doing actively.
Saturday
1st November will test our mantle and the importance we place
on the future of our children's education and well being.
It will also be an opportune time to demonstrate our appreciation
for what the school have done for us, the present government
for what it has done of our children in what it is to become,
a Modern Lodoni.
No
doubt, it will also be a time to re-examine ourselves whether
our motto "DUI MATE GA ENA NONA UCU NI VATU" still
holds true to each of us at such a time of challenge as this.
MAI LODONI MAI
God
bless RKS and Fiji.
"DUI
MATE GA ENA NONA UCU NI VATU"
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