Kelera Ditaiki 
Fiji Education High Commission’s Communication Officer Epi Rawalai [Photo: FILE]
Fiji will benefit from approximately $359.8 million in Australia’s Pacific skills initiative, aimed at strengthening technical and vocational training.
This will, in turn, help address the country’s growing skills shortage.
The funding will support the Pacific Australia Skills programme, and as part of it, a Vuvale Skills Hub will be launched on Monday.
This will be a shared facility for technical and vocational education providers in Fiji.
Fiji Education High Commission’s Communication Officer, Epi Rawalai, says the initiative will strengthen the TVET program, helping train more Fijians for high-demand jobs.
“Based on the work of the Australia-Pacific Training Coalition that they are going to build on, which is going to build on the former APTC, has trained more than 7,000 Fijians with formal qualifications, and I think around another 6,000 Fijians. We have completed short upskilling courses with the APTC, and now, with their mandate adjusted a bit, they are here to assist, especially in skills training, addressing the skills gap in Fiji.”
Rawalai says the initiative will help ensure Fiji has a skilled workforce to meet future labour demands both locally and across the Pacific.
