Fijian scholar

hasn’t forgotten his village

Towards a Village-based Edu cation Programme. By Laisiasa Wainikesa. Published by Lotu Pasifika Productions, Suva, 1982. No ISBN, price provided.

Laisiasa Wainikesa of Fiji is a minister of the Methodist Church who has worked as a chaplain at the University of South Pacific and, more recently, studying for his Master’s degree at Macquarie

University, Sydney.

It is to the credit of Laisiasa and his supervisors at the univer sity that he has used his studies to work towards a practical solution

of problems faced by the people

of the two villages where he grew up.

For about 10 years he has been involved in development work for the villages of Nakawaga and Nukubolu, and his concern has grown about the role played by the present predominantly academic education system in two villages of such limited re sources. ‘‘The people have come

Many of us are familiar with the features of the high-scale surveys carried out by visiting academics, and the involved and unproductive reports which fre quently eventuate. Here is a document of merit as it records the concerns, the means of com munication, and the thoughts ab out useful outcomes of a local person who has taken time to stand back and look with percep tion at the needs and wants of his

people.

Laisiasa arrives at conclusions which are generally in line with those made about rural develop ment in many parts of the world, but he is prepared to acknow ledge the difficulties that beset efforts to change the lot of small rural communities. ‘‘There is no simple solution to the problems of education faced by the people of Nakawaga and Nukubolu. The problems clearly involve a varie ty of broader social, economic, political and cultural considera tions which the church and gov ernment are unable to influence

to realise that education has not matched up to their expectations; they are putting so much effort into it and yet reaping very little benefit.’’

As part of his university pro ject Laisiasa arranged for a con sultation to take place at the villages which would: 1. Assess the degrees of support for a change to a village-based educa tion program as an example to other rural villages in Fiji; 2.

Assess the need for a village based education which would be

given by village people, espe

cially leaders and by church and government agencies; and 3. On the basis of the needs and support found, design the basic charac teristics of a village-based sys tem of education.

Lotu Pasifika Productions have made a most useful social

contribution by publishing the

small booklet “ Towards a Vil lage-based Education Program me”, which is a report on the consultation.

in the short term.”

W. G.

Coppell.

Education in rural Fiji: Once close to the village, then remote and more formal. Now there’s a move back to the village base.

- Rural pupils photographed

by Shereé Lipton.