Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says Pacific Polytech had asked for more than $13 million, and the government is only allocating them $7 million.

As criticism mounts on the increased allocation to the institution over the years, the Finance Minister says some of these critics have nothing better to talk about.

Professor Prasad says the process of allocating funding to higher education institutions registered by the Higher Education Commission is based on the submissions that these institutions make and some of the recommendations that come from the Higher Education Commission.

He says in this case, Pacific Polytech asked for more than what they’ve been allocated.

The Finance Minister claims these critics have forgotten that institutions like Pacific Polytech are offering a second chance to many Fijians.

“They are putting thousands of youths, you know, who would be leaving school in Form 4, Form 5, and 6, instead of, you know, being on the street and engaging in drugs, etc., are ending up in these institutes and getting qualificationsfor which they get jobs.”

Prasad reiterated that though the allocations are being announced, the process to get the funding still needs to be followed.

“The budget allocation doesn’t necessarily mean that they just get the money like that. They go through the Fiji Higher Education Commission, they sign a grant agreement, there are certain conditions that are required as part of that grant agreement, vetted by the Solicitor General’s office, and then the money is released by the Higher Education Commission.”

Prasad adds that ranting politicians outside of Parliament are just trying to get attention.

He says one can argue until the cows come home about the quality of graduates, whether they come from USP or FNU or Polytech or the University of Fiji, but the fact is that this government has taken head-on this problem to address labor shortages by supporting training institutions.

He then labeled those criticizing education allocation as losers trying to find something in the budget to talk about.

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