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Secondary Education in Fiji: an Investigation Into School SECONDARY EDUCATION IN FIJI: AN INVESTIGATION INTO SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY. By Helen Goodwill Tavola. Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London. UMI Number: U050087 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U050087 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 T I'VzSSi&S F (*1 2 ^ x<5 I 12 760,2 x ABSTRACT The major issue addressed in this thesis is the quality of secondary education in Fiji, investigating the variables which affect school effectiveness. The theoretical and conceptual perceptives on the quality of education are initially examined with a review of the literature, contrasting western perspectives with those specifically related to developing countries. The main empirical part of this thesis is based on a study of eleven secondary schools in Fiji and the Form Four students in these schools. The aim was to investigate what the critical factors are for improving school effectiveness, measured largely in terms of pupil achievement. The thesis concludes that in-school factors are more important than the antecedent variables of the individual children, such as race or socio-economic status. The stability and strength of school management, principalship, combined with the judicious use of resources emerged as the critical factors in school effectiveness. Various policy implications relating to secondary education in Fiji are drawn on the basis of these findings. A historical study of education in Fiji from pre-colonial times to the present focusses on education within its socio-political parameters and tests the hypothesis that socio-economic and political contexts provide the demand for education. The Grant-in-aid system of education was established in 1916 which provided for government and the people to enter into a partnership in the provision of education. This system is studied as it has proved to be both a strength and a major weakness of the Fiji’s education system. - 2 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Research in the social sciences inevitably involves many people other than the researcher. The research on which this thesis is based is no exception. According to the Brazilian sociologist Maria Edy Ferreira, thematic investigation is only justified to the extent that it returns to the people what truly belongs to them; to the extent that it represents, not an attempt to learn about the people, but to come to know with them the reality which challenges them. (In Freire, 1972:102). I hope this is true of my thesis, for what it contains belongs to the many people in Fiji who directly and indirectly made it possible. Many people in Fiji helped make my fieldwork a reality. The Permanent Secretary for Education, Mr Hari Ram, gave me continuous support which enabled me to proceed unhindered. The principals, teachers and students in the eleven schools I visited gave their time freely and without their generous assistance, this research could not have been done, for they are the essence of it. Also in Fiji, Ruth Lechte of Nadi, the Yarrow and Nabainivalu families of Suva and the Salu family of Namalata, Kadavu gave me accommodation and friendship. My father-in-law Maciu Waqanisau was my valued guide and intermediary in Kadavu. Losena Salabula guided me up the Sigatoka Valley. The support of many friends and relatives in various other parts of the world have helped me greatly. My sisters Jenny, Sylvia and Rosemary in New Zealand took care of my children while I did the bulk of my fieldwork in Fiji. Vimla and Peter Westwood provided friendly accommodation in London on many occasions. Mereia Sauvukivuki Ravana liberated me from many domestic chores during the latter part of my thesis writing in Brussels. My children Mereia, Georgie and Ema have been cheerfully tolerant of my preoccupations and my absences from home over the past few years. Their steadfast confidence in my ability to succeed has been a strength. A grant from the Central Research Fund of the University of London was of great assistance towards the cost of f ieldwork. - 3 - Dr. Anthony Hall of the London School of Economics and Political Science was my supervisor for the duration of this thesis. He guided me through the stages and facilitated my path. For this I am grateful. This thesis would never have eventuated without the professional help and guidance of Mr. H.C.A. (Tony) Somerset. He was co-supervisor both officially and unoffically and gave generously of his time and expertise. He illuminated my thinking at many stages, especially when designing fieldwork questionnaires, analysing statistics and bringing it all together. I am truly indebted to him. For his unfailing support, love and strength, I am deeply grateful to my husband, Kaliopate Tavola. He helped me in so many ways, notably with the time consuming tasks of data collection and proof-reading. For this, I dedicate this thesis to him. Helen Tavola. Brussels, April 1990. - 4 - TABLE OF CONTENTS, CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.................................. 11 1.1 The Issues Under Study................................. 11 1.2 Methodology................................................13 1.3 The Fieldwork............................................. 15 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 19 2.1 Educational Expansion and the Human Capital Theory..................................................... 19 2.2 Western Research on Quality and Equality in Educat ion..................................................32 The Influence of Environmental Factors.............. .33 The Genetic Determinists................................36 The Structuralist Perspective..........................40 The Importance of Internal School Factors...........45 2.3 The Quality of Education in Developing Countries...50 Beeby’s Pioneering Work................................. 50 The Move Towards Qualitative Improvements........... 52 Teachers as the Critical Variable..................... 56 Textbooks as the Critical Variable .............61 Other Educational Policy Variables............ 65 The Home Background Variable............. 71 2.4 Cross-national Studies.................................. 72 CHAPTER THREE: PRE-INDEPENDENCE EDUCATION IN FIJI IN ITS SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT...81 3.1 Pre-colonial Fiji.............. 82 White Settlers and Missionaries ................ 85 3.2 Early Colonial Rule from 1874 to 1916: the Period of Intervention in Education....... ....92 3.3 The Beginning of Government Intervention: 1916-1948................................................96 The Colonial Political Agenda....................... 99 The Emergence of a Tripartite Education System. 101 3.4 Increasing Government Intervention: 1948-1960..... 116 3.5 The Decade Leading to Independence................... 120 - 5 - CHAPTER FOUR: POST-INDEFENDENCE EDUCATION IN FIJI......135 4.1 Post-independence Education Policy ..................137 Integration: the Post-independence Goal.............150 4.2 Qualitative Improvement through Curriculum Change.153 4.3 The Access Issue.........................................158 4.4 After May 1987: Education in the New Republic.....169 CHAPTER FIVE: EXAMINATIONS AS AN INDICATOROF SCHOOL QUALITY....................................... 182 5. 1 The Use of Examinations in Assessing Educational Performance,............................................. 182 The Case for and against Examinations............... 183 Improving Examinations to Improve Pedagogy......... 186 5.2 The Use of Examinations in Fiji...................... 188 The Primary School Examinations......................189 The Fiji Junior Certificate Examination.............198 Senior Secondary Examinations.........................203 Setting Examinations in Fiji............. 209 5.3 Research into Educational Achievement in Fiji: A Brief Review............................................. 212 Psychological and Socio-Psychological Research.... 213 Socio-cultural Educational Research ................ 218 CHAPTER SIX: THE FIELD STUDY - THE SCHOOLS..............227 6.1 The Role of Management................................. 227 6.2 The School Principal................................... 243 Principals and School Ethos........................... 247 6.3 The Role of Material Resources............... 251 6.4 The Role of Teachers................................... 258 Teachers and Attainment................................263 6.5 School Size: does it Make a Difference?.............267 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOLS..............273 7.1 Social, Economic and Political Contextual Variables.. ............................................................273 7.2 Parental Occupations and Education...................280 7.3 Homes and Homework......... 286 7.4 The Age Factor...........................................295 7.5 Wastage................................................... 298 - 6 - 7.6 Aspirations and
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