New national testing data released by the Education Commission shows large and persistent gaps in student learning that have prompted the Ministry of Education to move quickly on reform, Education Minister Aseri Radrodro said today. The results, covering student performance to 2025, show worrying weaknesses in early mathematics and a substantial share of children beginning secondary school without the expected foundations in literacy and numeracy.
Radrodro told reporters the Commission’s analysis found more than 80 percent of schools reported Year 4 students performing below the expected mathematics standard. Nearly two-thirds of schools also indicated Year 4 pupils are below expected levels in reading and writing. “A strong foundation is not optional; it is essential,” he said, underlining the urgency of strengthening early years learning.
The data does include some bright spots in reading: Year 5 literacy rates improved from 90 percent to 95 percent in 2025, and Year 7 literacy rose from 93 percent to 95 percent. But numeracy remains a major challenge, with only 74 percent of Year 5 students meeting the numeracy benchmark, Radrodro said. Those mixed results have shaped the ministry’s immediate priorities.
Of particular concern for secondary schools is that almost half of Year 9 students are entering with proficiency levels below expectations, the minister noted. That shortfall, officials warned, risks compounding learning gaps as students move into higher grades when curricula become more complex and subject-specialist teaching intensifies.
In response, the ministry is developing a targeted national numeracy strategy aimed at lifting mathematics outcomes across both primary and secondary schools. Radrodro said the strategy will be focused and national in scope, though he did not provide a firm timetable or detailed measures at today’s briefing. He indicated the strategy is being shaped around the Commission’s findings and will be announced once the ministry finalises its policy package.
The Education Commission’s findings mark the latest development in efforts to strengthen Fiji’s education system and follow years of international and local attention on learning outcomes. While recent literacy gains suggest some interventions may be working, the gap in numeracy—and the large proportion of students below standard by Year 4—has prompted the government to prioritise mathematics as the next area for concentrated reform.
The ministry has said it will outline further steps, including how the numeracy strategy will be implemented in schools, funded and monitored. For now, Radrodro’s statement signals a shift in focus to early numeracy as education officials prepare to translate the Commission’s data into policy and practice to prevent early gaps from becoming longer-term barriers to student success.
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