'Give VCs a seat at budget table'

Former Permanent Secretary for Education, Iowane Tiko, now studying at the Fiji National University (FNU), has called on the Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel to let university vice-chancellors personally present their own development plans before the national budget is set.

Mr Tiko made the appeal at the Ministry of Finance’s 2026-2027 Budget Consultation at the FNU Nasinu Campus on Wednesday.

Mr Tiko said allowing vice chancellors to pitch directly to the minister would ensure universities received funding that matched their real needs — rather than having the Ministry of Education decide for them.

“I request, Honourable Minister, that you provide an opportunity for every vice-chancellor of all our tertiary institutions come in personally and present to you a development plan that they have in mind for their institutions,” Mr Tikos said.

“Otherwise, the same budget we will prepare for them for the years to come will be just business as usual.”

Mr Tiko pointed to a past example where FNU’s vice-chancellors presented directly to the minister alongside the University of Fiji’s vice chancellor — FNU’s budget increased as a result.

“That was the first time USP’s budget dropped and FNU rose to the level that we thought was reasonably justified by their vice chancellor’s presentation,” he said.

He stressed the need to fund institutions working toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for quality education for all by 2030.

Mr Immanuel welcomed the suggestion, saying universities should operate more independently and rely less on Government funding.