Shania Shayal Prasad 
[File Photo]
Youth work in Fiji and across the Pacific is being pushed into the national development spotlight, with calls for it to be formally recognised as a professional and educational discipline.
Pacific youth and community practitioner Broderick Mervyn says youth work has long played a critical role in shaping leadership, values and social cohesion, yet remains largely unrecognised compared to other education sectors.
He says the Professionalising Youth Work in the Pacific Modules aim to close that gap by establishing youth work as a structured, ethical and pedagogical field that directly contributes to national and regional development.
Mervyn says youth work must be viewed as education beyond the classroom, particularly for young people who may not fully benefit from formal academic systems alone.
“Young people are guided not by chance, but by trained educators and mentors who understand both academic principles and cultural responsibility.”
He says professionalising youth work strengthens, rather than replaces, Pacific traditions by formally embedding intergenerational leadership, storytelling and communal responsibility into modern educational frameworks.
Mervyn says recognised and professional youth work contributes to stronger civic engagement, social cohesion and ethical leadership.
He adds that acknowledging youth work as an educational and cultural service places youth practitioners alongside teachers and public servants as key contributors to nation-building in Fiji and across the Pacific.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
