Picture: NATI Graduates of 2020
“Ena veigauna ni kida na mataka, caucau liwa mai delana, ubia koto na
tegu e loma ni saqata, veivukiyaki noqu vakasama, voleka sara meu dro seu
carata, Isa ko tamaqu dena qai rogorogoca na yacana.”
A solemn reminder, for a student
attending Navuso Agricultural Technical Institute (NATI) via the school anthem
the importance of parents’ sacrifice to ensure that one remains in school,
learns as much as one can, and proudly cap off that education journey at the
much-anticipated graduation ceremony.
NATI is operated under the
Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma with grant support from the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Ministry of Education.
Distinctively also known as
Muainase, located in Navuso, Naitasiri, the Institute trains and produces
‘replacement and commercial farmers’ for Fiji.
In 1923 when the Methodist Church
was then administered and operated from Australia, L.M Thompson, the then
Secretary of Education for the Church, acquired the 1,200 acres freehold
property in Navuso from its original owners Scott and Turner specifically to
establish an agricultural school.
Overseas experts were brought in
to develop the initiative with Mr Ben Meek, a graduate of Hawkesbury
Agricultural College in New South Wales becoming the school’s first principal
in 1924.
The Institute began recruiting
young Fijian youths in villages to enroll for specific agriculture training.
Some decades later, Navuso
extended its wings to the Pacific Islands region where it started accepting
students from Tonga, Samoa and the Solomon Islands, making it the largest
agricultural school in the region to offer Certificate in Tropical Agriculture during the booming 50’s.
Hidden from the main traffic
route of that area, and tucked away in lush greenery at Muainase, Head of the
Institute, Mr Uraia Waibuta said the courses at the institute would fully equip
students to be ‘replacement and future commercial farmers for Fiji’.
“The initial intention of the
Institute, was to work towards addressing the current problems faced by young
men and women of today in their respective communities,” he said.
“The school curriculum fully
prepares young men and women to become future replacement and later commercial
farmers in Fiji,” said Mr Waibuta.
“We have realized the saturation
in the job market especially with white and blue collar jobs, therefore we have
refocused now to creating, innovating and incentivizing the farmer job market.”
The Institute’s two years’
Certificate in Agriculture (Integrated) Level IV
program is highly practical in nature, of which 80% is hands-on with students
doing practical through attachments on the ten different enterprises provided
in the institute facilities.
The enterprises include Dairy,
Piggery, Poultry, Aquaculture, Root-crops and Vegetable crops, Fencing, Cottage
Industry, Farm Machinery and Carpentry.
“It is critical that we provide
the most relevant modern agricultural methods and appropriate technologies and
best practice on farming to our students who come from different backgrounds,”
he says.
“The point is to ensure that
technologies taught to students can easily be implemented and adopted by them
when they graduate.”
Currently, the Institute has a
total school roll of 115 students, 13 of which are female and 102 male with 21
staff and farm hands.
Apart from the usual academic
programme, students are also introduced to extra-curricular activities, such as
student driving tests, Individual farms and opening of individual bank
accounts.
“We organize sporting events, and
teaching iTaukei traditional protocols to empower our young men and women to
reduce the gaps that exist in communities on basic traditional knowledge,” Mr
Waibuta said.
“In addition, the Institute opens
up individual bank accounts for first year students during enrollment so
deposits earned by them can be made to their accounts. At the same time,
students are able to pay for their own driving lessons from the money they
earn,” he said.
Further, students are sent off
from the gates of Muainase with a graduation package that includes land with
Lease Titles to give them a head start, allowing them to put into practice all
the lessons learnt, thus beginning the journey to sowing the seeds of
excellence.
NATI is proud to have a
recognized certificate programme under its cap, which is the Certificate in
Agriculture Level IV. Now, the Institute has also been identified as the
provider for the National Qualification on National Certificate in Dairy Level
II.
The underlying strength to the
Institute, since it is a Methodist owned Institute, spiritual development to
students is a cross cutting program that runs in parallel with all its
technical programs.
“We strongly believe, once these
young men are holistically empowered, that is spiritually, technically and
socially, they will create changes in their respective communities and growth in
the agriculture sector.”
The Ministry of Agriculture in
its 2020-2021 Budget allocated a total of $665,270 to NATI.
-Ends-