Adi Cakobau School

Adi Cakobau School in Fiji was founded in 1948 by the Fijian government as a boarding school to provide an intermediate education for Fijian girls.^[1] It was named after the granddaughter of Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the King of Fiji who united the islands under his authority in 1871 and ceded the nation to the United Kingdom three years later. It became a full-fledged secondary school in 1954.^[2] Its English language curriculum included traditional academic subjects, traditional dance, music and crafts. Since a goal was to provide wives for leaders of the nation, the curriculum included "chiefly protocol."^[1] The school moved to its present location in Sawani, Viti Levu in 1956.^[3] It is located at Ro Camaisala Road, next to Sawani Village, in the province of Naitasiri.^[4] The counterpart school for boys is Queen Victoria School. Most of the Fijian elite by 2001 had been students at one of these schools.^[5] Adi Cakobau School won the Coca-Cola Lite Games for the unprecedented twelfth time in a row on 28 April 2012.^[4][6]

Adi Cakobau school
Location
Sawani, Viti Levu, Fiji
Coordinates	18°01′29″S 178°28′08″E / 18.024665°S 178.468900°E / -18.024665; 178.468900
Information
Type	Government day and boarding school
Motto	"Leave the world better than you found it"
Established	1948
Color(s)	Crimson, white and black       Uniform: Standard ladies blouse   Skirt

Entry to Form 3 (Year 9) is restricted and girls will only enter on merit. Only those achieving the highest marks in national examinations taken by pupils in their last year of primary school (Year 8) are entitled to enter.

Adi Cakobau School consists of 4 houses - Mokosoi (Green), Kakala (Blue), Uci (Red) and Lagakali (Yellow).

The first principal in 1948 was Frances Lillian Charlton.^[2] The first Fijian principal was Taufa Vakatale. She was a pioneer girl at Adi Cakobau School and was later deputy prime minister of Fiji.^[7][8]

Vocal music by the Adi Cakobau School choir was recorded in the 1950s and is in the collection of the British Library.^[9] The school entertained Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in December 1953.^[2] The choir toured New Zealand in 1961–62 and Australia in 1973–74.^[2] Their performance of the traditional Fijian farewell song "Isa Lei" was included on The secret museum of mankind, vol. 1. Ethnic music classics: 1925–1948^[10] and was included in the soundtrack of the motion picture Open Water.

The school's 60th anniversary was observed in October 2008 by the students and faculty, hundreds of alumnae, and Ratu Josefa Iloilo, president of Fiji.^[11]

The school achieved an overall pass rate of 98% for sixth and seventh formers in 2010. It had the continuous after some time with a little difference of 1%–2%.^{[clarification needed]}

Notable alumnae

• Jiko Luveni – Dentist, Project Manager for reproductive health, United Nations Population Fund, Fiji Minister of Health, 2008.
• Anaseini Qionibaravi, first female Senator in Fiji
• Salote Radrodro, senior civil servant and, from 2014, Member of Parliament^[12]
• Kuini Speed – Head girl, 1968. Fijian chief. Fijian Deputy Prime Minister, 1999 and 2000.
• Finau Tabakaucoro – Assistant Minister for Women, Culture, and Social Welfare 2000–2001^[13]
• Lynda Tabuya, Opposition Whip 2018
• Taufa Vakatale – Fiji Chief Education Officer, Secretary for Education, Deputy Prime Minister^[7]

References

1. [1] Campbell, Craig and Sherington, Geoffrey. Going to school in Oceania. Greenwood, 2007. Page 103. ISBN 0-313-33950-3 ISBN 978-0-313-33950-9 Retrieved 4 September 2009
2. Vakatale, Taufa, "ACS reflections (1948–2008)." Speech at ceremonies commemorating the school's 60th anniversary.
3. [2] Lal, Brij V., Broken waves: a history of the Fiji Islands in the twentieth century. University of Hawaii Press, 1992, page 159. ISBN 0-8248-1418-5 ISBN 978-0-8248-1418-2 Retrieved 4 September 2009
4. [3]^{[permanent dead link]} Website of Adi Cakobau School, Sawani. Retrieved 4 September 2009
5. [4] Robertson, Robert Thomas, and Sutherland, William M. Government by the gun: the unfinished business of Fiji's 2000 coup. Zed Books, 2002.Pages 68–69. ISBN 978-1-84277-115-0 Retrieved 4 September 2009
6. [5] 13 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine"Adi Cakobau eyes record ninth victory." Fiji Times Online, 27 April 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009
7. [6] 13 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine Rabuka, Sitiveni, "The truth shall set you free." Fiji Times Online, 5 October 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2009
8. [7] Various, "New Politics in the South Pacific." Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific in association with the Pacific Islands Political Studies Association, 1994. Page 201. ISBN 978-982-02-0115-6 Retrieved 4 September 2009.
9. Adi Cakobau School Choir, archival sound recordings, George Kingsley Roth Fiji Collection, British Library, Shelf mark C28/6. Duration 11:06. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
10. Yazoo. Release date 1995. Asin: B000000G9D. Per Amazon.com, retrieved 4 September 2009
11. [8] 24 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine "Coming of age in Fiji". IEEE Spectrum, 1 February 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009
12. . FijiLeaks. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
13. . Fiji Times. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2010.

External links

• ACSOG Association – Official site of the Adi Cakobau School Old Girls Association, U.S.A. branch