There are people who received qualification under the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Scheme but migrated without paying their debt.
During a budget roadshow at FNU in Lautoka this morning, Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this was not right and is unfair on the taxpayer’s money.
He says students under TELS who complete their studies should work for the country even if it’s the private sector.
”If you travel overseas and you owe money to government we need assurity because how do to know you going to go overseas and not come back again. We’ve had people who had done that and it is wrong for people to get educated and get funded by taxpayers in Fiji and simply sneak away in the middle of the night. Using our money and befitting some other country.”
Sayed-Khaiyum says when TELS first started, students from low income families who needed money for tertiary studies had to have a guarantor but that has been removed.
