Editorial: Education is Fiji’s investment

The graduation of about 3000 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 2614 graduates, including 61 per cent women, USP again demonstrated its important role in prepar­ing the region's, especially Fiji's future leaders and professionals.

The graduating class includes 1252 undergraduates, 504 postgraduates, 193 master's graduates and two doctoral graduates.

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.