Tertiary institutions must consider workforce needs before taking on students.

Tertiary institutions must consider workforce needs before taking on students.

Education Minister Rosy Akbar made the call while launching a Strategic Plan for the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Board.

The Education Ministry is worried university programs may not be addressing the needs of the market when enrolling students.

“We are moving towards quantity. If you look at the number of graduates coming out and the needs of the Fijian workforce, it doesn’t match. We at the ministry are doing a workforce planning exercise for our ministry. We are short of more than 25 science teachers, maths teachers, industrial arts teachers.”

Akbar says tertiary institutions can’t work in isolation and need to find an answer to the disproportionate number of graduates joining the labour market.

Meanwhile, the Minister has commended the Tertiary Scholarship Loans Board for its new logo and strategic plan.

The TSLB has helped more than 38,000 Fijians with