The Ministry of Education, with assistance from the Australian Government, has launched four divisional counselling hubs across the country. Permanent Secretary Selina Kuruleca announced this development during a public submission regarding the 2022 Audit Report on the Social Services Sector on Tuesday.
Ms. Kuruleca specified that one counselling hub is located in the North, another in the East, one in the West, and the last one in the Central region, each staffed with a full-time counsellor. She noted that, thanks to Australian Government support, they have also trained 32 counsellors.
The Ministry aims to extend counselling services beyond the existing four hubs to cover nine district positions and larger schools, including government boarding institutions. Ideally, the Ministry envisions having a thousand counsellors available for all schools.
During a recent stakeholder meeting, it was agreed that one counsellor would typically oversee five schools, suggesting approximately 200 counsellors would be needed. Discussions between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Civil Service about job descriptions and salaries are ongoing.
Additionally, on August 12, the Fijian Cabinet approved the reintroduction of school chaplains in government schools to help address various social relationship issues. The Cabinet also endorsed cost-sharing arrangements for religious educators in non-government schools to utilize a portion of their administrative budget.