National language debate in Fiji
Encyclopedia
The national language debate in Fiji
concerns the status of the country's three official languages - English
, Fijian
, and Hindustani
(the name used in the constitution
for Fiji Hindi
). From colonial times
, the sole official language was English, but the 1997 Constitution
gave equal status, for the first time, to Fijian and Hindustani, alongside English.
Teimumu Kepa
endorsed calls for it to be made compulsory, as did Great Council of Chiefs
Chairman Ratu Ovini Bokini
. Similar calls came from Misiwini Qereqeretabua, the Director of the Institute of Fijian Language and Culture, and from Apolonia Tamata, a linguistics
lecturer
at Suva
's University of the South Pacific
, who both said that recognition of the Fijian language is essential to the nation's basic identity, as a unifying factor in Fiji's multicultural society.
Fiji Labour Party
(FLP) leader Mahendra Chaudhry
also endorsed the call for Fijian to be made a national language and a compulsory school subject, provided that the same status be give to Hindi - a position echoed by Krishna Vilas of the National Reconciliation Committee.
Academic and former Education Minister Taufa Vakatale said that she supported making Hindi available in all schools, but considered that Fijian should get priority. "If the Indians in the country lost their language, there is a whole continent of people in India who would still have the language," she said. "In the whole world only 330,000 people know how to speak in Fijian and if it is lost, there is nowhere it can be revived from, that is why the Fijian language is very important to preserve."
A investigation by the Rewa Provincial Council
, made public on 23 November 2005, revealed that 26 percent of indigenous children in the first and second grades of nine Rewa schools could not speak their own language. The council was exploring ways to redress this area of concern.
Vice-President Ratu
Joni Madraiwiwi
added his own voice on 9 January 2006 to the campaign to make Fijian a compulsory subject. Addressing the 72nd annual meeting of the Fijian Teachers Association in Suva
, Madraiwiwi said that it was dangerous to assume that Fijian children would automatically learn their own language. His parents' generation had emphasized prioritizing English on the assumption that Fijian could be learned later, but this had resulted in a generation knowing little Fijian, and unless the language was made compulsory at all levels of primary education, it would be lost to the next generation, he said.
Parliamentarian
Gaffar Ahmed
of the FLP spoke out on 4 August 2005 in favour of establishing Fijian as the national language. "To achieve national unity, multi-cultural and multi-racial harmony, we should have one common language which must be taught at all schools," he told the House of Representatives. He said that his own inability to speak Fijian was his greatest handicap as a Fijian citizen.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
concerns the status of the country's three official languages - English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Fijian
Fijian language
Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers, which is less than half the population of Fiji, but another 200,000 speak it as a second language...
, and Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
(the name used in the constitution
Constitution of Fiji
The 1997 Constitution of Fiji was the supreme law of Fiji from its adoption in 1997 until 2009 when President Josefa Iloilo purported to abrogate it. It was also suspended for a period following the 2000 coup d'état led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama....
for Fiji Hindi
Fiji Hindi
Fiji Hindi, also known as Fijian Hindi or Fijian Hindustani, is the language spoken by most Fijian citizens of Indian descent. It is derived mainly from the Awadhi and Bhojpuri varieties of Hindi. It has also borrowed a large number of words from Fijian and English. The relation between Fiji Hindi...
). From colonial times
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, the sole official language was English, but the 1997 Constitution
Constitution of Fiji
The 1997 Constitution of Fiji was the supreme law of Fiji from its adoption in 1997 until 2009 when President Josefa Iloilo purported to abrogate it. It was also suspended for a period following the 2000 coup d'état led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama....
gave equal status, for the first time, to Fijian and Hindustani, alongside English.
Compulsory subject?
There is considerable debate as to whether Fijian, and possibly also Hindi, should be compulsory school subjects. In May and June 2005, a number of prominent Fiji Islanders called for the status of Fijian to be upgraded; the present Education Minister, RoRo (title)
Ro is a title used by Fijian chiefs in the Province of Rewa, as well as parts of Naitasiri, Namosi, and Serua. Both males and females are so styled; in other areas of Fiji, male chiefs are titled Ratu and female chiefs, Adi....
Teimumu Kepa
Teimumu Kepa
Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief and politician. A former students' coordinator at the University of the South Pacific when Kepa chose to enter the University to embark on her Bachelor of Arts Degree and was a principal of Corpus Christi Collegebefore that, until she succeeded her late...
endorsed calls for it to be made compulsory, as did Great Council of Chiefs
Great Council of Chiefs (Fiji)
The Great Council of Chiefs is a now dormant 1997 constitutional body in the Republic of the Fiji Islands. In April 2007 the council was suspended, due to an unworkable relationship with Frank Bainimarama, leader of an "interim government" which came to power through a military coup in December 2006...
Chairman Ratu Ovini Bokini
Ovini Bokini
Ratu Ovini Bokini Ratu was a Fijian chief and political leader. Bokini, who held the chiefly title of Tui Tavua, succeeded Epeli Ganilau as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs on 21 July 2004, and was reelected to this post for a full three-year term on 27 July 2005.A formal gathering of...
. Similar calls came from Misiwini Qereqeretabua, the Director of the Institute of Fijian Language and Culture, and from Apolonia Tamata, a linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
's University of the South Pacific
University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific is a public university with a number of locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. It is an international centre for teaching and research on Pacific culture and environment. USP's academic programmes are recognised worldwide, attracting students...
, who both said that recognition of the Fijian language is essential to the nation's basic identity, as a unifying factor in Fiji's multicultural society.
Fiji Labour Party
Fiji Labour Party
The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...
(FLP) leader Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...
also endorsed the call for Fijian to be made a national language and a compulsory school subject, provided that the same status be give to Hindi - a position echoed by Krishna Vilas of the National Reconciliation Committee.
Academic and former Education Minister Taufa Vakatale said that she supported making Hindi available in all schools, but considered that Fijian should get priority. "If the Indians in the country lost their language, there is a whole continent of people in India who would still have the language," she said. "In the whole world only 330,000 people know how to speak in Fijian and if it is lost, there is nowhere it can be revived from, that is why the Fijian language is very important to preserve."
A investigation by the Rewa Provincial Council
Local government of Fiji
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...
, made public on 23 November 2005, revealed that 26 percent of indigenous children in the first and second grades of nine Rewa schools could not speak their own language. The council was exploring ways to redress this area of concern.
Vice-President Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
Joni Madraiwiwi
Joni Madraiwiwi
Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi is a Fijian lawyer, politician and was the Vice-President of Fiji from 2004 to 2006. He was sworn in on 10 January 2005, following his nomination by President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo and his subsequent approval by the Great Council of Chiefs on 15 December 2004...
added his own voice on 9 January 2006 to the campaign to make Fijian a compulsory subject. Addressing the 72nd annual meeting of the Fijian Teachers Association in Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
, Madraiwiwi said that it was dangerous to assume that Fijian children would automatically learn their own language. His parents' generation had emphasized prioritizing English on the assumption that Fijian could be learned later, but this had resulted in a generation knowing little Fijian, and unless the language was made compulsory at all levels of primary education, it would be lost to the next generation, he said.
Why Fijian?
Kamlesh Arya, President of the Arya Pratindhi Sabha organization, said on 29 June 2005 that language was the window by which people could appreciate and absorb tradition, and that making both Fijian and Hindustani compulsory school subjects would promote social and cultural understanding between the two races. His organization taught Fijian to Indo-Fijian students in primary schools at its own expense, he said. Given the geographical and numerical limitations of the Fijian language, it needed to be given special attention on its own merit.Parliamentarian
House of Representatives (Fiji)
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...
Gaffar Ahmed
Gaffar Ahmed
Gaffar Ahmed is a Fiji Labour Party Fijian politician of Indian descent. Ahmed, a former police officer, represented the Ba West Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, from 1995 to 2006....
of the FLP spoke out on 4 August 2005 in favour of establishing Fijian as the national language. "To achieve national unity, multi-cultural and multi-racial harmony, we should have one common language which must be taught at all schools," he told the House of Representatives. He said that his own inability to speak Fijian was his greatest handicap as a Fijian citizen.