Making tertiary education free was  something that the Fijian Government could not afford to do at this stage.

This was the response from the Minister for Economy and Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, during the Budget Consultations yesterday at the Fiji National University’s (FNU) Derrick Campus in Samabula.

Campus student president, Rizwan Asgar, had asked the A-G if, in the near future, tertiary education could be made free to those who come from poor families.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said making tertiary education free was something the Government could not afford to do at this stage.

He stressed: “We need to be financially prudent, completely free is something that we cannot afford to do.

“At this point in time we need to be able to live within our means. I would be surprised if any country in the world had complete free education.”

Students also raised issues on the need to increase the number of lecture rooms at the FNU campuses and accreditation for engineering courses.

Students also highlighted to the A-G that lecturers in the engineering faculty only had degree and masters qualification.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said he had heard of such issues and it seemed like some people did not want expatriates to be at FNU. He said it was important to get more qualified and the right people in the institution.

Another student, Siddhrath Raman, acknowledged Government for the work done.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the national budget would be announced around June, be given time for debate in Parliament and approved for the 2018/2019 financial year by August 1.

Budget consultations continue today at the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Laucala Campus from 9am, and the University of Fiji’s Samabula Campus from 2pm.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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