Funding shortage stalls Pacific Polytech intake
Institution urges Government to release additional scholarship funding
Monday 03 August 2026 | 12:00
Pacific Polytech Chairperson Dr Ganesh Chand in Tavua on June 1, 2026.
Pacific Polytech says 250 students in Vanua Levu require Government funding to begin trade programmes in Term 3 after the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS) exhausted its scholarship allocation for 2026.
Pacific Polytech chairperson Dr Ganesh Chand made the announcement during the institution's graduation ceremony last week, saying the affected students would be unable to begin their studies unless additional funding was provided.
"All funds have run out. We hope, and we have made a plea to Government, to make additional resources so that the 250 students from Vanua Levu can start studying trades programmes from Term 3," he said.
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Dr Chand said the institution remained hopeful the request would be approved.
However, he said if no additional funding was made available, the students would have to wait until January next year to begin their studies.
The comments follow TSLS' announcement that it would not open scholarship applications for Semester 2 and Quarter 3 of 2026 because all available scholarship allocations had been fully utilised.
TSLS said it had been allocated funding under the 2025–2026 National Budget to support 9,919 scholarships across its 15 scholarship schemes.
However, following the 95 per cent Year 13 pass rate in 2025, demand for Government-funded scholarships increased significantly.
The service said it reallocated funding across several scholarship schemes, enabling it to award 10,199 scholarships during the first academic term of 2026 while remaining within its approved budget allocation.
"These available scholarship allocations have now been fully utilised," TSLS said.
The statutory body said it could only award scholarships within the funding allocated by Government under the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service Act.
TSLS confirmed existing sponsored students would continue receiving their allowances and other support, provided they continued to meet sponsorship conditions.
It also encouraged eligible students to apply early for future intakes once new scholarship funding became available.
