CONSULTATIONS ON REVIVING FLAG RAISING AND LOWERING STARTS

Consultations on reviving the national flag raising and lowering ceremonies for schools has started in Honiara.

The consultation is part of the Democratic Coalition for Change Government’s policy in the peacebuilding sector and conducted by the Solomon Islands Scouts Association.

It includes the reviving of the national flag raising and lowering ceremonies being institutionalised since independence.

Speaking to SIBC News, Commissioner of Scouts Billy Oge said, the consultation is to remind schools to re-introduce the national flag raising and lowering ceremonies to maintain our national identity.

“It is important for us to re-introduce the flag raising and it is our national identity, which we forgot. Perhaps in the past this became an important area normally practiced in schools, but the environment has told us that it has lost over the years, which is one of the reasons why there is no sense of belonging.”

The Scout Commissioner adds the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has provided about a hundred national flags to be distributed to schools around Honiara.

“For the start, the 100 flags provided by the United Nations Development Programme will cover schools within Honiara, Guadalcanal, and Malaita provinces.”