Education

Operations of Technical College under review

November 22, 2020 4:16 pm

The Fiji National University management is undertaking an extensive review of the operations of the Technical College of Fiji to streamline and strengthen the delivery of its programs.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr. William May in a statement says the review is focused on areas of learning and teaching resources, student numbers, program quality, teaching skills and qualifications, and quality of facilities.

Dr. May says a major part of the review includes a consultation process with key stakeholders including staff, the Government through the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, and industry representatives.

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The ownership of TCF was transferred to FNU in December 2019 following a restructure at the Ministry of Education and it was established in 2015 as an initiative of the Fijian Government to provide affordable lifelong learning opportunities, award certificate II qualifications in various trade sectors, part-time short courses and other certificates of attainment awards.

FNU Acting Vice-Chancellor says for any successful organization intending to acquire an existing entity, a fundamental component of business operation is to undertake an extensive due-diligence process to weigh the benefits and risks before making a final business decision whether to continue as is or remodel to suit the evolving industry needs.

He says FNU is in a similar position with TCF and therefore is required to undertake an exercise to understand its inner workings which includes a review of the declining student numbers that point towards a decreasing demand for the program, learning and teaching facilities, staff qualifications to match global standards for teaching TVET, income, and expenditure.