FIJI: Australian Volunteers Program Use Puppetry in Fiji School for Students with Special Needs

This excerpt was reposted from The Fiji Times News- "Pillay praises partnership of the Australian Volunteers Program"

Head of Lautoka School for Special Education (LSSE) Kailash Pillay has praised the partnership of the Australian Volunteers Program towards assisting them provide quality and inclusive education to the school’s special students.

Mr Pillay said the puppetry assignment with the Australian Volunteers Program’s Linda Novicky allowed her to impart her skills and knowledge to a team of teachers from the school.

“Our teachers were able to produce a number of videos collectively using puppets,” he said.

Mr Pillay said the puppetry lessons has been a success in this pandemic, with the students at home playing a vibrant role as far as home learning was concerned.

According to a statement on the Australian High Commission Facebook page, Ms Novicky volunteered with the school from 2019-2020. Before returning to Australia due to COVID-19, she had introduced her puppet “Lusia” as a creative war to engage the students.

“The puppets are used to assist in building communication and interpersonal skills through drama therapy, storytelling and puppet shows,” said Ms Novicky.