The Ministry of Education, Heritage, and Arts advises all students, parents, and guardians that the examination dates for Year 8, Year 12, and Year 13 students have been shifted from their original schedule.

Minister for Education, Heritage, and Arts, Premila Kumar announced the changes at a press conference held earlier today (01/11/22). These changes are due to the National Election, which will take place on 14 December 2022.

Year 8 exam, which was initially scheduled to start on Tuesday, 13 December, and end on Thursday, 15 December, will now start on Friday, 9 December, and end on Tuesday, 13 December.

Year 12 exam, which was initially scheduled to start on Monday, 5 December, and end on Thursday, 15 December, will now start on Thursday, 1 December, and end on Tuesday, 13 December.

Finally, Year 13 exam, which was initially scheduled to start on Tuesday, 29 November, and end on Friday, 9 December, will now start on Monday, 28 November, and end on Thursday, 8 December.

As all exams will end on 13 December, the 2022 academic year will also end on 13 December.

Minister Kumar said that the changes are necessary and important for students to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted exam period, with ample time to prepare and revise well prior to the examination.

“As many of our schools are being used as polling stations, holding exams after election day would cause a lot of disruptions,” said the Minister.

“These disruptions would affect students, teachers, supervisors, parents, and guardians due to the logistical acrobatics required to turn schools across Fiji into polling stations and back into normally-functioning schools right after the election process.”

“We want to maintain smooth sailing during the examination process for the thousands of Fijian students who will be undertaking their exams, and to ensure that they do not face any disruptions.”

The Minister said that the Ministry will send the new examination dates to all Heads of Schools to ensure smooth implementation.

“The good thing is, under our strategic education framework, this term is designed to be a revision period — where students go over the various topics that they have learnt during the year. This, of course, means that there will be no curriculum coverage issues impacting our students who I know are ready to work hard and give their total focus to exams,” explained Minister Kumar.

“Last week, we sent out a circular to Heads of Schools allowing them to hold extra classes, and many have been doing so for a while.”

The Minister added that these changes would give year 8 students an extra weekend in between papers to do their revisions, and Year 12 students would have two weekends between papers to revise, study, and catch up on anything they may have missed.

The Minister thanked all the hard-working teachers, school managers, support staff, and parents, who are going out of their way to ensure that our young ones can sit for their exams, and concluded by wishing students well in their upcoming exams.

“Fiji is counting on your preparation and success –– not only on your exams but also the service you will offer to your families, communities, and the nation in the future.”