Only 420€ per week!
Teaching Program
Suva - Fiji
Visit this beautiful Island town of Suva in Fiji and teach children of various age groups. Help them to make very significant and worthwhile contributions to society through education.
You will have the freedom to be creative and design your own lesson plans in a relaxed environment matching the Fijian way of doing things as you will be surrounded with the friendliness of the children.
Program
Living
Suva
Fiji
Program Description
Fiji has over 700 primary schools and 150 secondary schools spread across both the public and private sectors. Most expats send their children to a private schools, with the majority selecting the international schools located in either Suva or Nadi. Public schools in Fiji are open to expat enrolment, but are rarely used due to somewhat erratic educational standards. Furthermore, parents are often reluctant to send students to these schools as they find the curriculum one-sided and children who regularly move in and out of school systems may find the experience limited. While public schools are theoretically mixed-race, socio-economic issues and the geographic distribution of ethnic groups mean that, in practice, the schools often comprise of a single race. In many villages, there will be a small school with teachers doing their best to serve the students spread across a variety of educational levels.
Fiji is a country in much need of external help, especially with its young population. You will experience life in both the rural and urban areas, which is quite different from the average journey followed by a tourist. Most locals in Fiji can’t afford to travel and in the villages there is little chance of contact with the outside world. Your teaching enables students to form relationships with someone from another culture and the teachers can learn different teaching methods and techniques. You will mainly assist the regular school teacher, so you do not need to have any teaching background.
The children in Fiji are in desperate need of two types of teachers, those with experience and those without, we have found both can make very significant and worthwhile contributions. The experienced teacher will find the freedom to be creative and design their own lesson plans, a refreshing change for some of our more mature participants, who tell us it takes them back to the “good old days”. Those with less or no experience will have whatever support and guidance that is needed from our Teaching Centre, a relaxed environment matching the Fijian way of doing things, but with up to date teaching methods from experienced teachers. You have to love children and understand their behavior, as you will be surrounded by loads of them every day and their friendliness can sometimes become over exuberant, but they are children after all.
Aims & Objectives
The objective is to teach and educate the different age group of children in different levels. The participants educate the children in different ways, as they feel fit.
Schedule
Monday to Friday
Program Activities
- Planning lessons
- Doing crafts
- Computer classes
- Conversation
- English language teaching
- Level exams
- Dynamic activities
You will teach primary school students. As a teaching assistant, you will follow a customized timetable. If you have artistic skills, you have the opportunity to teach music or arts and crafts. You will be spending part of your day in a formal teaching setting and therefore you will have to follow the Fijian Ministry of Education's formal dress code.
Note: This schedule can be changed and/or amended depending on weather conditions, local conditions and unforeseen circumstances.
Participant Criteria & Requirements
Standard Requirements
Minimum age: –
Maximum age: –
Minimum English level: Basic
CRB required: On Signup
Passport copy required: On Signup
Resume copy required: No
Required qualification: None
Additional Requirements
We have a dress code for teaching which is formal tops with sleeves, collar and skirts below the knees for the females and a shirt and formal sulu (Traditional wear for Fijian males) / long pants for males.
Participants above 16 and below 18 are required to present a parental consent letter and participants below 16 are required to be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Additional Equipment
● Personal Medicines
● Tidy clean clothes for formal occasion
Location
Suva is located on the southeast coast of the island Vitti Levu. It is the capital of the country and the largest most cosmopolitan city of Fiji. Suva has an approximate amount of 86,000 inhabitants and works as a harbour city built on the peninsula. The city has a warm rainy tropical weather throughout the year, which keeps the flora fresh, and the temperature in beach-perfect scenery. This town represents the meaning of a multicultural country. It has so many combinations between European, Indian, Asian and Fijian that every single person seems as interesting as the next one. Make sure not to miss the Fiji Museum to learn more about how the beautiful Fiji came to be. The best part of this multicultural aspect is that you can find Chinese, Indian and Italian cuisines in one place!
About the Accommodation
Participants will stay at our centre on Suva, yet can vary depending on the project, but will be in shared bedrooms at our house Centre. There are refrigerators at the accommodation for the participant’s convenience.
Food Arrangements
Three meals, per day are served for the duration of your trip on Monday to Friday two meals per day on the weekends for the duration of your trip. We serve breakfast and dinner at the normal time during the weekend. Breakfast is western style and lunch and dinner are typical Fijian style.
Facilities
- ATM’s: There are many ATM's near the Suva House centre which is about a 5 to 10 minutes from the house.
- Local supermarket is a 5 minute walk from the centre.
- Personal SIM card for your mobile: You can buy at the local shop.
- The closest city is Suva about a 20 minute ride by car/bus from our Centre.
- 5 minutes ride to to Makoi Health Centre +679 334 0197, Lot 5 Matanikorovatu Nasinu.
- 20 minutes ride to Suva Private Hospital 120 Amy Street, Tork Suva /Fiji +679 330 3404.
- 20 Minutes ride to Colonial War Memorial Hospital Brown Street & Waimanu Road. Suva/ Fiji +679 313 3444.
- 20 Minutes ride to Gordon Street Medical Centre 98-100 Gordon Street Corner of Thurston Street, Suva/ Fiji +679 333 1355.
- 20 Minutes ride to Nasese Medical Centre 62 Ratu Sukuna, Suva/ Fiji +679 331 4450, + 679 330 3655.
Activities & Events
No scheduled activities outside the program.
Sights & Surroundings
- Fiji Museum: This museum offers a great journey into Fiji’s historical and cultural evolution.
- Suva Municipal Market.
- Oceana Center for Arts and Culture:Arts center at the University of the South Pacific which hosts regular live music, dance and theater, art shows and other cultural events.
Transportation
From this location we do not provide free transport to other locations.
Quick Facts
Name: Republic of Fiji
Population: 881,065
Capital: Suva
Language: Fijian
Currency: Fijian Dollar (FJD)
Time zone: ICT (UTC +7)
Country Information
Fiji is an archipelago of 333 sun-kissed, picture perfect islands tucked away in the South Pacific, close to Australia and New Zealand.
It's famed for its rugged landscape of blue lagoons and palm-lined beaches, and eco-activities from mountain climbing and surfing to soft-coral diving and zip-lining. Its major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, contain the lion’s share of the population, meaning much of the country is uncrowded.
The 20th century brought about important economic changes in Fiji as well as the maturation of its political system. Fiji developed a major sugar industry and established productive copra milling, tourism and secondary industries.
As the country now diversifies into small-scale industries, the economy is strengthened and revenues provide for expanded public works, infrastructure, health, medical services and education.
The country’s central position in the region has been strengthened by recent developments in sea and air communications and transport. Today, Fiji plays a major role in regional affairs and is recognized as the focal point of the South Pacific.
Fiji is now home to many other races — Indians, Part Europeans, Chinese and other Pacific islanders living in harmony, and keeping their own cultures and identity. Fijians, slightly over 50 per cent of the total population, are essentially members of communities. They live in villages and do things on a communal basis.
Climate
The climate in Fiji is tropical marine and warm year round with minimal extremes. The warm season is from November to April and the cooler season lasts from May to October. Temperature in the cool season still averages 22 °C (72 °F).
Rainfall is variable, with the warm season experiencing heavier rainfall, especially inland. Winds are moderate, though cyclones occur about once a year (10–12 times per decade).
On 20 February 2016, Fiji was hit by the full force of Cyclone Winston, the only Category 5 tropical cyclone to make landfall in the nation. Scores of homes were destroyed and at least 43 people have been reported dead.
Culture
Fiji was first settled about three and a half thousand years ago. The original inhabitants are now called "Lapita people" after a distinctive type of fine pottery they produced, remnants of which have been found in practically all the islands of the Pacific, east of New Guinea, though not in eastern Polynesia. Linguistic evidence suggests that they came from northern or central Vanuatu, or possibly the eastern Solomons.
Before long they had moved further on, colonizing Rotuma to the north, and Tonga and Samoa to the east. From here, vast distances were crossed to complete the settlement of the Pacific to Hawaii in the north, Rapanui (Easter Island) in the east and Aotearoa (New Zealand) in the south.
Unlike the islands of Polynesia which showed a continuous steadily evolving culture from initial occupation, Fiji appears to have undergone at least two periods of rapid culture change in prehistoric times.
This may have been due to the arrival of fresh waves of immigrants, presumably from the west. Pre Historians have noted that a massive 12th century volcanic eruption in southern Vanuatu coincides with the disappearance of a certain pottery style, and its sudden emergence in Fiji.
It is hardly surprising then, that the Fijian culture is an intricate network and that generalisations are fraught with danger. Although the legendary king of Bau, Naulivou, and his successors had control over a large area of eastern Fiji, at no time before colonization was Fiji a political unity. Nevertheless, Fiji does exhibit certain traits that sets it apart from its neighbours, and it is this that defines a distinctive Fijian culture.
Transportation
Getting around Fiji is easy and cheap. There’s a good network of buses, carriers (trucks) and ferries for travel within Fiji’s main islands, and taxis are common. Hiring a car is a good way to explore the two largest islands – which contain 90% of Fiji’s roads – or charter a boat or small plane to get between islands. Fiji is well-served by two domestic airlines which operate between many of the islands, although services are less regular to the outer islands. Yachting and cruising are also great ways to explore the country.
