[ Source: Higher Education Commission - Fiji / Facebook ]

The Ministry of Education has reintroduced structured career awareness programmes at the school level to ensure that students are better equipped to make informed choices before reaching tertiary education.

There is a growing concern that graduates entering the workforce are either unable to secure jobs or are underprepared for the demands of the market.

Fiji Higher Education Commission Director Dr Eci Naisele believes that the root of the problem lies in the lack of early career guidance and skills alignment with industry needs.

“Apparently a number of our graduates when they finish from universities or from colleges, they come out that is what is called a mismatch of skill towards what the demand requires. So it’s a hard effort of the, of the industries or the demand side to be able to retrain them again.”

The Director says higher education institutions need to train students based on career pathways that are nurtured from an early age.

“Professional counselling, particularly career counselling is critical. So that’s why I said earlier on the importance of why we need to link to the secondary school sector, the primary in the preschool.”

Education Minister Aseri Radrodro also echoed these concerns, adding that the Ministry of Education has already taken steps to address the issue.

“We’ve noticed that students are taking courses at the university level and not completing the programmes because they are not ready to undertake this programme. So that is why we have introduced that the earliest for the people to reintroduce this to the school level and it has started and this will be regularly monitored in this area.”

The Ministry of Education and FHEC hope to not only reduce graduate unemployment but also ensure that Fiji’s workforce is equipped to drive sustainable economic growth in the years ahead.

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