The Fiji National University is only able to provide accommodation to ten percent of their students.

And with a huge increase in demand for accommodation over the past couple of years, the University is undertaking a multi-million dollar renovation at all its campuses.

FNU say the scale of renovation has inevitably reduced the number of beds available.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Healey says there are around 2,000 beds in student hostels, but due to ongoing renovation some students did not get accommodation this semester.

“The reality is that this is kind of a continuing problem. The number of students that want to stay in student hostels has risen very significantly in the last two/three years and our student numbers are growing. So we looking at longer term solution which obviously have to be to increase stock.”

Healey says the renovation is being carried out in phases and the pressure on the accommodation will be for some months but it’s going to gradually decrease as work completes.

The FNU is also working closely with its Students Association.

Association President, Ketan Lal says they will be meeting the Vice Chancellor today to iron out a number of issues.

“We are yet to find the cause for that renovation to be delayed. At the moment I have no information from the University – in terms of why the renovation was delayed and why it started in an academic year.”

The FNU says accommodation is a continuing problem and they’re working closely with Investment Fiji and the Fiji Development Bank to either secure funding to carry out construction themselves or enter into a public/private partnership for a longer term solution.