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School closures and continuity of learning measures
School closures were common throughout the region in 2020 and 2021, including during the pandemics, epidemics and natural disasters referenced in the questionnaire. School leaders were asked to indicate how long their school was closed due to, respectively, a pandemic, epidemic, natural disaster, or other reason in these years. Durations for school closures were collected separately for each of these categories.
School closures
Table SLT3.3 shows the average school closure duration by the reason for the closure.
The majority of the students (96%) attended schools in Fiji that were closed for more than eight weeks due to pandemics. 10% of students attended schools that were closed for three to four weeks due to natural disasters in the years 2020 and 2021.
Regional average percentage of students attending schools that were closed for various reasons in 2020 and 2021, by school closure duration and reason for closure.
- Standard errors appear in parentheses.
Continuity of learning measures
Along with the school closure information, school leaders were asked to indicate what measures were in place to provide continuity of learning during school closures. The measures that were asked about focused on the provision and availability of learning materials and communication with students and parents. Table SLT3.4 shows the percentage of students in Fiji in PILNA 2021 who attended schools with specific continuity of learning measures being implemented, available but not implemented, and not available.
89% of students in Fiji attended schools where learning materials were made available for pick-up from schools during closures. A further 7% of students attended schools where this measure was in place but not implemented. Providing learning materials for pick-up was the most common learning measure adopted by schools.
The next most available measure was a step up from having learning materials available for pick-up; this was physically delivering learning materials to a student’s home. This measure was implemented in schools attended by 78% of students. A further 6% of students attended schools where this measure was available but not implemented. These are both continuity of learning measures that involve physical learning materials, such as workbooks.
Communication via social media and/or by email with students and parents was the next most common learning continuity measure, with 75% of students attending schools that implemented this measure. A further 4% of students attended schools that had access to this measure but did not implement it. Similarly, 73% of students attended schools where learning materials were distributed through email.
About half of all students in Fiji attended schools where learning materials were available for download through a website or portal.
Interestingly, radio, often considered the most readily available mass media tool, was not fully utilised as a means of learning continuity during school closure in the region. Only 17% of students in Fiji attended schools where learning materials were broadcasted on radio.
What does this mean?
School closures affected large numbers of students across the region during 2020 and 2021. Pandemic-related school closures were the most common. Almost all students in Fiji attended schools that were closed due to pandemics for more than eight weeks. Pandemics affected instruction in Fiji more than the regional average.
To provide continuity of learning during these closures, many measures were made available for students in the region. The largest proportion of students in Fiji were provided with physical learning materials either being available for pick-up from their school or being delivered to their home. A substantial proportion of students were also provided with learning materials through digital means (email, 73%; website or portal, 47%). Most students or parents also received communications during closures from schools through email (75%).
This suggests that Fiji was relatively flexible in its delivery of continuity of learning measures and this needs to be explored further to understand Fiji’s readiness for potential future disruptions.
