Editorial: Education is Fiji’s investment

The graduation of about 1,341 students from the University of the South Pacific (USP) this week is more than a celebration. It is proof that investment in education produces the human capital Fiji and the Pacific need.

With 1,341 graduates, including 61 per cent women, USP again demonstrated its important role in prepar­ing the region's, especially Fiji's future leaders and professionals.

A breakdown of the graduates is as follows:

• Pacific TAFE and vocational certificate programmes: 424
• Undergraduate: 544
• Postgraduate: 237
• Master’s: 128
• PhD: 8

They now boost our workforce where Fiji must do more to utilise 'Fijian-Made' knowledge, skills and expertise rather than depending on imported prod­ucts, foreign expertise and expatriates.

USP Pro-Chancellor Siosiua Utoikamanu delivered a timely reminder: "Every person sitting here today is the beneficiary of something that somebody else helped create."

That responsibility must now extend beyond the graduates. It must challenge leaders, and Govern­ment.

The Coalition Government's restructuring of schol­arship and tertiary education assistance must not only be an exercise in reducing or controlling ex­penditure. It must be a strategic investment in Fiji's future.

Scholarships should be aligned with national skills shortages in areas such as health, information tech­nology (IT), aviation, engineering, trade internation­al relations and governance.

And the $160 million scholarship allocation must not overlook vocational institutions such as Polytech Pacific and students pursuing technical and trade qualifications.

Not everyone will wear a white shirt and sit behind a desk. Fiji also needs electricians, builders, mechan­ics, technicians, farmers and entrepreneurs.

A skilled population means more jobs, stronger businesses, greater productivity and less dependence on expatriates.

Education is not a cost. It is Fiji's investment for the future, and itself.