TVET students from FNU’s College of Humanities and Education.

The Fiji National University (FNU) launched TVET Pasifika in July 2021, as the centralised platform to achieve its dual-sector strategic goals by strengthening the quality of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teaching and addressing the growing shortage of technical skills. TVET Pasifika is committed to supporting the economic and social development of Fiji and the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) through the provision of relevant, highquality education and training that maximises graduate employability. In the 2021/22 National Budget, the Fijian Government announced 5000 new funded places for TVET courses through the Tertiary Education Loans Scheme (TELS). Pursuing TVET studies, now with the added opportunity of TELS funding, provides education for employability and is an investment in your future. In addition, the government has also provided funding of $1M to FNU for offering short courses to upskill and reskill particularly those who became unemployed as a result of the pandemic.

Working with Pacific Island Countries (PIC)

TVET Pasifika endeavours to work in close collaboration with the PICs by providing tailor-made programmes suitable to the current and future jobs market. FNU is liaising with PIC governments and industry partners in assessing the technical skills gap and offer study courses in the areas that are not provided by their own TVET Colleges. PICs are developing nations with low to a middle-income bracket having less developed industrial base and low human development index. Investing in the skills development of such nations through TVET programmes thus becomes a critical component of human capital development. Whether you are a student, a parent or guardian, or an employer, visit www.fnu.ac.fj/tvetpasifika to explore the wide range of TVET courses on offer. From short courses and trade diplomas to certificates and apprenticeships: we are confident you will find a TVET course that meets your needs and supports your career aspirations.

SDG Goal 4

FNU’s TVET programmes aim to empower youth with relevant technical and vocational skills to transition into adult economic and social roles and to effectively contribute to their community’s socio-economic development. TVET Pasifika endeavours to transform TVET education in Fiji and neighbouring PICs in line with the principles of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: that is, “seeking to ensure access, equity, inclusion, quality and lifelong learning, leaving no one behind”. TVET Pasifika’s strategy is to contextualise TVET education into UN’s SDG 4, also known as Education 2030. Within the SDG 4 framework, the three dimensions that we consider TVET education to be critical include: 1. Fostering Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, 2. Promoting Equity and Gender Equality, and 3. Facilitating the Transition to Green Economy and Sustainable Societies. Across the world, TVET is driving the post-pandemic economic recovery as it enables secondary school graduates and those already in work to develop the skills, experience and competencies demanded by employers, in a fast-changing global economy. TVET being an industry-driven qualification and training scheme tracks closely the changing demands for skills in the jobs market and continuously attempts to fill the skills gap with job ready TVET graduates.

Lifelong trade skills

FNU’s Acting Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor TVET Dr Rohit Kishore.

It is important to note that TVET studies provide students with skillsets for lifelong employability which is truly beneficial. In the Pacific, TVET has a crucial role to play in providing educational opportunity, reducing inequality, filling skills gaps, and supporting sustainable economic growth – especially in rural and remote communities. We offer study programmes in various fields including Engineering, Medical, Tourism and Hospitality, Entrepreneurship, Fashion and Design, Cooking and Patisserie, Carpentry, Construction, Automotive, Electrical, Electronics and so forth. Battered by the global pandemic, economies are focusing their efforts on adapting to the new normal and require new knowledge and skills to manipulate through an increasingly uncertain and changing world. TVET Pasifika is committed to assisting businesses and industries in providing courses such as Adaptability and Flexibility, Leadership Skills, Tech Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Critical thinking, Post Pandemic Soft Skills, Cooperation and Creativity, Payroll Accounting, Business Start-Up, Financial Management, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, Sustainable Tourism, Sanitation and Food Security, Cyber Security, Data and Network Communication and Counselling. In the area of health and safety, age care has been identified as an urgent need for qualified personnel in Individual Support for Older and Disabled People. FNU will partner with APTC to offer the Australian Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) which is the prerequisite qualification for employment in the Australian age care sector. APTC will train FNU staff as trainers in this area, with the ultimate objective of FNU gaining accreditation from AQSA to deliver the course. The Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) will prepare students for employment opportunities in Australia under the Pacific Labour Scheme.

Blended Learning TVET Model

FNU’s TVET programmes are targeted to train students with real-time industry-based practical and soft skills. Practical and soft skills can be up to 80% of a programme and are sometimes difficult to be taught online and to overcome this, FNU has adopted a blended mode of teaching its courses with theoretical components offered through online mode and workplace learning of the practical components. Blended mode TVET is the practice of building competence in knowledge, practical and soft skills through a combination of face-to-face and technology enabled distance learning experiences. FNU’s TVET programmes allow students flexibility in selecting their learning components, upskilling essential workers in their workplaces and reskill displaced workers while observing physical distancing guidelines. TVET education has been recognised for its experimental learning, that is, learning by doing, which has been labelled as ‘not being able to be done by distance’. However, well-designed blends of TVET, particularly when combined with workplace learning, can use technology to increase quality and access, reduce costs and be more inclusive. COVID-19 has provided the catalyst for TVET Pasifika to understand and act on this potential. By implementing the blended TVET strategy, it aims to provide skills-based education and training to secondary school students, youths and mature people who were unemployed or became unemployed as a result of the global pandemic, in Fiji and across the Pacific Island countries.

Dr Rohit Kishore
Acting Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor,
Technical and Vocational Education and Training