Secondary school teachers in discussion at the FNU’s Career Teachers’ Workshop at Ba Campus.

Secondary school teachers in the areas of Ba, Tavua and Rakiraki turned up in numbers to the Fiji National University’s (FNU) Ba Campus for this year’s first series of the Career Teachers’ Workshop (CTW).

This is the second year the university is hosting the CTW following the successful launch last year.

The CTW is an annual initiative of the FNU designed to equip secondary school career teachers with the latest information and resources about FNU’s academic programmes, application processes, and student support services.

The workshop aims to empower educators with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively guide their students towards technical vocational education training and higher education opportunities at FNU.

Ba’s A D Patel College, Head of Department Industrial Arts, Selvin Shavneet Kumar shared that it was very fortunate that he had been given a chance to attend the workshop.

“There are a lot of questions that students usually have, and this is going to give us a good pathway for us to know what they want and when we return, it is going to be easy for us to help them decide what field they want to go with,” said Kumar.

“For me personally, since I am an Industrial Arts teacher, it is going to be easy for me to help our industrial arts students to take up TVET courses with the FNU.”

Teacher at Veilomani Vocational and Rehabilitation College, Laiama Seutinaviti shared that the CTW would greatly assist her guide the students in choosing the correct career path.

The college, which is attached to the Veilomani Boys Home in Ba caters for the needs of young men who aspire to do good in life.

Seutinaviti said the students were mostly taught programmes in relation to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

“I know this workshop will greatly help me as well as I am attached to teaching Vocational and Automotive Engineering. Now after this workshop, I will tell my students more about what the future holds for them especially in the area of TVET with FNU,” she said.

FNU’s Head of Campus, Ba, Niraj Dharmendra said all career teachers played an important role in creating the pathway to the future for their students.

“You, as career teachers, play a pivotal role in ensuring that the relevant information reaches all students so that they are prepared to make correct choices in choosing their destined career paths,” said Dharmendra.

Teachers from different secondary schools at the FNU’s Career Teachers’ Workshop at Namaka Campus.

“You are gifted and that is why you are all teachers, that is why we are all teachers and lecturers, because we have the power to guide our students and make a difference in their lives.”

FNU outlined that the objectives of the CTW’s was to equip secondary school teachers with comprehensive knowledge about FNU’s programme offerings, admission requirements, application procedures, and career pathways.

It also highlighted that the workshop provided teachers with the resources and materials to effectively guide and advise students about pursuing higher education at FNU, and to foster communication and collaboration between FNU and secondary schools to enhance the flow of relevant information and address student queries.

The second CTW concluded at the FNU’s Namaka Campus in Nadi yesterday bringing together close to 30 secondary school teachers from the areas along Sigatoka, Nadi and Lautoka.