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Residents in a rural corner of Fiji’s east coast have been told they can shape the future of the country by holding their leaders accountable.
The message was delivered by Ambassador Wiepke Van Der Goot, the European Commission Head of Delegation for the Pacific, while opening the Dawasamu District School’s new library under the EU-backed Fiji Education Sector Programme (FESP) on September 15, 2009.
Dawasamu, in the Tailevu Province, was one of the hotspots during Fiji’s political insurrection in 2000.
Van Der Goot said he is convinced that quality education contributes decisively to the development of a society of active citizens who ask questions and demand the right answers from their parent, teachers, community leaders and politicians.
He said for good governance to happen, the “leaders need to be held accountable by educated and open minded citizens and reminded of their responsibility towards the people”.
“In this regard, it is my sincere hope that the trend evident in the latest Governance Index published by the World Bank can be reversed,” he said.
“Between 2005 and 2008 Fiji has dropped 19 places in the overall average dimension of Governance Index compared to other countries in the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific states.
“During the same period, however, Fiji climbed 19 places in the area of ‘Control of Corruption’, which reflects the special measures against corruption taken by the interim Government.”
The FESP has been investing more than F$50 million over the last years into the education of children in Fiji.
The EU ambassador said after the completion of FESP at the end of 2010, almost every student in Fiji will be able to experience the positive results of the EU’s assistance.
“We will have accomplished a massive leap forward in education, especially for rural and remote primary schools,” he said.
