Current YMC students
entertain ex scholars and
guests. Picture: JOHN KAMEA
Any village by the sea always brings me memories of my young days on Qamea Island.
There are beautiful recollections to consider – rowing across Naiviivi Bay, walking barefoot on sand, playing marbles using dilo seeds and there are not-so-good-ones, such as eating yam porridge called pepe’e, fetching water from low tide pools and getting a spanking from Master Peka’s hosepipe.
So when a trip to Moala by the roll on roll off the vessel, Spirit of Altruism presented itself, I couldn’t resist shouting with an energetic yes!
John Mitchell
YMC playground and main
school block with staff
quarters in the background.
Picture: JOHN KAMEA
Under British rule, education in Fiji was characterised by a number of commissions often initiated by governors who were not satisfied with the state of learning in the colony.
While many recommendations from these inquiries collected dust on shelves, some shaped several significant policies of the government.
In 1969, on the eve of Fiji’s independence, the Fiji Education Commission (FEC) decided to change the nation’s school structure.
It was subsequently suggested that “experimental” junior secondary schools be set up in selected rural areas.