Education

Exporting education a great pathway for Fiji: FHEC

November 22, 2022 3:50 pm

Fiji Higher Education Commission Director, Dr Rohit Kishore

Fiji’s young educated population is feeding the demand of larger countries whose majority population falls in the age category of 40 and over.

Fiji Higher Education Commission Director, Dr Rohit Kishore says while there’s been talk about brain drain, it is equally important to recognize the ramifications of limiting Fijian’s access to overseas opportunities.

Dr Kishore says Fijians being afforded quality education has greatly contributed to our basket of well-skilled laborers, meeting the demand of various sectors.

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“Each year we are graduating about 8,000 students and if we don’t let them go anywhere and shut the doors, we’ll have a huge oversupply and unemployment. This is where the education sector plays a very critical role including the higher education sector.”

Dr Kishore highlighted that brain drain also plays to our advantage in marketing and exporting Fijian labor and skills to the world.

“We have a younger population and enough students in the system. If we have them properly in the right way with the right qualification, we can have enough for us and also export.”

Stakeholders are being consulted to ensure curriculums provided in schools and universities are aligned with the needs of our workforce and the labour export market.

The FHEC through the assistance of the government and stakeholders is working to make Fiji a knowledge hub.