The Fijian Government is the largest contributor to USP providing 36-million dollars a year and it has very high expectations of the university to develop governance structures that benefit children.

Opening of the 79th Council Meeting of the University of the Pacific yesterday, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says even though the government has implemented education for all Fijians, there are still issues faced by students at University level.

“Unfortunately, it’s still the case that far too many students are struggling during their first year of university because they were not trained with the basics they need to succeed at that level. The last thing we want is for students to become discouraged and decide to quit, giving up the amazing opportunity provided to them through our Government loan scheme , called TELS, and our TOPPERS scheme.”

Various ministries has been working closely with the departments from the university like the department of Energy establishing a Biofuel testing laboratory based at the institute of Applied Science and the ministry of tourism and the university’s school of tourism and hospitality is another successful example of collaboration.

The meeting was attended by regional members of the university and ended today.