The Fiji National University (FNU) is working towards realigning its short courses into accredited micro-qualifications that are responsive to industry needs.

A select number of FNU academics were part of the two-day training on the development of micro-qualifications that was facilitated by the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP).

FNU’s Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr William May said the training was part of the University’s efforts to continually develop its programmes to meet industry demands.

“We need to continuously streamline and renew our courses and subject portfolios, based on national and regional skills needs, and robust evidence of employer, labour market and student demand,” Dr May said. “This requires us to proactively coordinate with national and regional employers to co-design and continuously improve all our programs,” he said.

FNU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching Professor Lisa Harrison said having courses accredited ensures the University meets quality education standards, and, in turn, serves the region’s students well.

“Having the micro-qualifications accredited under EQAP ensures that the programmes will be recognised across the Pacific which means we will be able to provide training to students from other countries,” she said. “Short course programmes are not recognised by any agency in the region except EQAP, so this provides the University a great opportunity to forge a flexible learning pathway for students, whether new or those already absorbed into the workforce seeking to reskill themselves.”

EQAP’s Qualifications Team Leader Rajendra Prasad said the regional micro-qualification framework was first developed in 2018 in response to requests from stakeholders.  Since then, EQAP has developed three regional micro-qualifications and provided the technical support to establish 28 micro-qualifications.

A micro-qualification, aside from being a small unit of learning (of no more than 40 credit points), also includes an assessment component that requires learners to demonstrate their learning or skills. A competency-based micro-qualification sets an even higher standard because the learner cannot qualify unless he or she demonstrates all of the expected competencies.

Prasad further explained that a micro-qualification can take between one week to a month to complete.

“One of the distinct features about a micro-qualification is it can respond to the needs of the industry in a short term,” he said. “If you are looking at a full Diploma qualification for example, if the industry says we need graduates in a particular field, by the time the diploma is written and approved it is already about two or three years down the line. But with a short course, and, through micro-qualifications, you can get done as soon as possible in about one to two weeks and get it approved and accredited and then delivered.”

He added that micro-qualifications provided flexibility for businesses and trainees because it ensures they can undertake courses in a shorter period at a reasonable cost.

Tetalo, a crop science lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (CAFF), said there is a growing demand for short courses within the college.

“Short courses are not as bulky as full programmes and allow students to be able to learn at their own pace,” she said. “This training is really important because it allows us to understand the process involved in developing short courses and helps us determine if there is a pathway for short courses to be cross credited to major programmes.”

The training was held both in the Central and Western Divisions, bringing together academics that facilitate Technical, Vocational and Education Training (TVET) courses.