The Centre of iTaukei Studies(CIS) at UniFiji offers a unique course Bachelor of Arts in
iTaukei(ITK) Management whose chief motive is to address leadership and management at
community levels, says Dr Litiana Kuridrani, Centre Director of CIS.
“We are targeting Provisional Administrators; Roko Tui’s and provincial office staffs; government
workers; tourism sector; teachers; and all that have an interest on ITaukei studies and management.
We are also targeting traditional leaders in modern societies for the iTaukei people and we are
hoping to go much deeper to the tikina (district) and Turaga-ni-Koro (village headman) level. They
need to be taught all these basics about participatory integrated community development plans,” she
said.
Dr Kuridrani also stated that the main objective of the program was to help make first our students
and their communities more knowledgeable. In other words building knowledge based society.
“That would link to the national development plan of Fiji, filtering to the provincial and district
level and come to the village level to establish inventories of natural, social, physical and financial
capital and their abilities to contribute to national economic development; she explained.
She further said that the program was more participatory than a trickle down approach (planning
and management with the people). “It matches well with the “solesolevaki” approach in traditional Fiji.
Students are also taught the tools for integrated local community development where the people
identify the problem and they work around that, develop it in their community and link it to the
national level,” she reinforced.
CIS has started with inter-disciplinary teaching between the Centre of ITaukei and the Department of Management.
“In the near future we plan to rope in the School of Law in the anticipation to develop another degree on ITK/Customary law. The customary law should help in understanding and recognizing land laws especially with the current village by laws; land tenure; land ownerships systems; intellectual property rights (flora and fauna) and hopefully land claims tribunals,” she stated.
One of the major areas that CIS also address is the teaching of language and culture in much more depth from language and literature to include expressive and creative arts; traditional and cultural expressions; traditional ecological knowledge; indigenous health & healing therapies; oral history and oral tradition; cultural anthropology; genealogy and migration history and indigenous research.
There has been a steady increase in the number of candidates applying for the program as 23 people from Ministry of iTaukei affairs enrolled and attended a course on “ Vanua, Land and the People (Yaubula) convened by Dr. Kuridrani herself in July, 2016.
The next course would be taught in April and students are still encouraged to apply.
