Small Islands Voice Youth Forum
Fiji Programme
2003 – Final Report

Prepared for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

• Partner schools identified in the western and central divisions by Live & Learn and Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education, Fiji. Selection was based on Expression of Interest letters received from these schools. The selected schools were Rakiraki Public High School, Rakiraki; Nadi Muslim College, Nadi; Assemblies of God High School, Suva.
  
  
• Training forums were conducted at each of the partner schools. The main objective of the forum was to prepare students for participation in the SIV Youth Forum and to train teachers on the different methodologies for facilitating discussions and debate.
  
  
• Around 60 students and 15 teachers participated in the SIV Youth forum activities.

• Rakiraki Public High School prepared the lead article on Water Problems faced in their district.
  
  
• At the end of phase 2 of the SIV Youth Forum, an evaluation was carried out at each partner school to assess their participation in the forum. Teachers and students were personally interviewed using the questionnaire prepared by UNESCO. The results of this evaluation were sent to UNESCO.

• Teachers felt that participating in the SIV Youth Forum was an enlightening experience for students. Generally, there was an excellent response from students during discussions based on articles posted on to the forum every fortnight. Teachers and school Principals have shown great support for the forum.
  
  
• Exchange of ideas, concerns, case-studies and information on/about various SIDS social, environmental and economic issues over the forum is an effective tool for generating discussion and debate among youths (students) in school. The Youth Forum was used as a teaching aid in school by teachers, to teach various environmental, social and economic concepts/issues which are covered in the National curriculum.
  
  
• The Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education also showed great interest and support for the SIV Youth Forum and welcomed the possibility of further participation of schools in the forum.
  
  
• There were also strong expressions of interests from other schools to participate in the forum.
  
  
• Although there was wide acceptance of the Youth Forum, various barriers prevented the schools from actively participating in the Forum. These barriers included:

1. Internet access limitations in 2 of the 3 schools. In both these schools, teachers and students did not have direct access to Internet facilities.
   
   
2. End of the year exams – schools in Fiji place great emphasis on end of the year exams and one of the barriers for teachers was that they could not allocate sufficient time to respond to the articles on the forum, because the majority of their school time went towards revision and preparations for the end of the year exams.