Population of Moturiki , Fiji , Will

Be “Mass Educated” Next Year

announced by the South Pacific Commission in November, the small island of Moturiki, off the west coast of Ovalau, in Fiji, has been selected as the site for an experiment in community development. The ex periment will be conducted by ifCe Government of Fiji as part of a SPC project, and just what it means is described in the following article prepared by the Public Relations Office, Suva. It is scheduled to begin in January.

By way of explanation it is stated that community development schemes have been carried out in other British colonial territories under the name of “Mass Education” and they are “designed to promote better living in the whole of the community that is participating.”

The idea of being mass observed, or mass educated, or even of being promoted to better living en masse, will fill many readers with horror.

Others, conditioned to such post-war experiments, will view the project with an open mind. Nothing is said in the PRO statement as to how the 500 Fijian inhabitants of Moturiki feel about it, but as Fijians invariably co operate 100 per cent, wth all Govern ment-sponsored schemes, their good

will must be taken for granted. If the scheme is carried out in its

entirety they will benefit materially.

MOTURIKI has been chosen for the project in Fiji for a number of reasons. As a small island, five miles in length and two miles wide, it offers a finite field for experiment and recording. It contains a small tikina of just over 500 persons, grouped in 10 vil lages. These villages may be dealt with independently, but the island might also be considered as a single community. The island is capable of agricultural economy.

A reasonably accessible market for pro duce is available at Levuka.

The exact lines along which develop ment will take place on Moturiki have not yet been decided but among the pro posals which have been suggested are the re-building of houses and of the District School on the island, the development of copra production and the introduction of pineapples, the formation of co-operatives for farming and marketing, the introduc tion of small livestock, improvements to the island’s water supply and to latrines, health education, improved nutrition, the development of local crafts, a literacy campaign, and the construction of a jetty to facilitate the marketing of pro duce.

The project will be planned and its progress assisted by an Advisory Group led by the Director of Education, who is also an Associate Member of the South Pacific Research Council. Others in the Advisory Group will be the Director of

Medical Services, the Director of Agri culture, the District Commissioner Southern (in whose district Moturiki lies), the .Registrar of Co-operative Societies and Ratu Edward Cakobau, rep resenting the Fijian Affairs Board.

The project will be carried out by a Fijian community team, which will probably consist of a leader and co-opera tive adviser, a woman instructor for home crafts and handicrafts, a senior assistant nurse for maternity and infant welfare

work, an assistant Mosquito Inspector for work on hygiene and public health, a Field Assistant from the Department of Agriculture and a carpenter and house builder. The health workers will be un der the general supervision of an Assis tant Medical Practitioner, who will visit Moturiki from time to time.

When the team has been selected it will begin the project by making a com prehensive preliminary survey of Moturiki, with the assistance of specialist officers

from Government Departments where necessary. The survey will cover such things as land tenure, land utilisation, housing and hygiene and the occupations and incomes of the adults on the island.

There will be a survey of the intelligence, practical ability and attainment of the school children. A comprehensive set of photographs of the island will be taken.

It is expected that the preliminary sur vey will take about six weeks and the team will then go to Nasinu Training College for training in work on the pro ject. Using the results of the preliminary survey, the team will consider what can be attempted at Moturiki and how it can best be done. They will work out methods of co-operation between individual mem bers of the team and they will consider the incentives by which the co-operation of the people of Moturiki can best be en listed. Methods of recording and cost ing the project will be worked out.

During the training period, arrange ments will be put in hand for building quarters of native type construction on Moturiki for the team and observers.

When the project ends there will be a re-survey along the lines of the pre liminary survey, so that the progress which has resulted from the project can be measured. Further surveys will be carried out later from time to time as the agricultural and medical schemes mature.

It is expected that during the project opportunities will be found for selecting leaders for further community develop ment schemes among the Fijian people.

Throughout the course of the project facilities will be afforded for visits bv ob servers both from other parts of Fiji and from the territories embraced by the South Pacific Commission.

Salaries of workers on the project will be paid by the Government of Fiji and all other expenses involved will be met by the South Pacific Commission.