Fiji Teachers Union
| Full name | Fiji Teachers Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Members | 4,200 (2004) |
| Affiliation | Fiji Trades Union Congress |
| Key people | Agni Deo Singh, General Secretary |
| Office location | Suva, Fiji |
| Country | Fiji |
Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) is a union representing elementary and secondary education teachers in Fiji. It is a member of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, and Education International.
The FTU was formed as a multi-racial organization. However, in 1960 the Fijian Teachers Union (FTA) was founded. The FTA limited its membership to indigenous Fijians. Most indigenous Fijian educators left the FTU, so that the FTU's membership is now overwhelmingly Indian. In 2004, the Fiji Teachers Union counted about 4,200 members (including over 700 indigenous Fijians). The Fiji Teachers’ Association had about 3,500 members.
By 1924 there were a significant number of local and overseas trained in Fiji, who saw the need for an organised group of teachers to discuss their professional and administrative matters. Under the leadership of Sewak Masih (of Toorak Boys’ School), the Methodist Teachers’ Association was formed and had members from Suva and Rewa. It adopted a motto: “To serve the Community is to serve God”. This association of teachers kept meeting in Suva until 1927 when Sewak Masih was transferred to Levuka and this gave him an opportunity to invite all the teachers from Suva, Ba, Lautoka and Nadi to attend a conference in Levuka. A teacher by the name of Dukhharan travelled with his group from the Western Districts to attend this meeting. Among other matters a plan for a united organization of teachers was kumar
Another conference of the Methodist Teachers’ Association was held at Methodist Boys’ School in Toorak in 1928 where the following office bearers were elected: President: Sewak Masih, Vice President: P M Stephen, Secretary: G P Andrew and Assistant Secretary: HR Narayan. John Bairagi was elected as Secretary International and BR Padarath was chosen as the Treasurer. Professional lectures were presented during the afternoon dinner by I J Beatie (M.A) on the topic “Reality in Education” and by G H Tindlay (M.A.) on “Psychology”.
There was no such organised association of teachers in the western side of Vitilevu; however, a meeting was convened at Natabua on Saturday 7 December 1929. The following teachers were present at this meeting: D A Shah, Dukharan, P M Stephen, D S John, W K Phillip, A V Ram Narayan, B L Ram Dass, R Varo, B H Sanjeu, Gulam Dastgir, J S Maiku, Jacob Wara, Peter Vatu, Farzand Ali and Pt Ami Chandra. C S Sharp, the principal of Natabua Secondary was invited to declare the meeting open.
As a result of this gathering of teachers an association called The Lautoka Teachers’ Association was formed under the chairmanship of Pt Ami Chandra. Dukharan was elected as the Vice President and W K Phillip became the Secretary/Treasurer. There was a committee of four executive members namely Robert Varo, D S John, P M Stephen and William. So by 1929 there were two Teachers’ Unions, one in the Central and the other in the Western Division but with similar aims and objectives.
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