Serious concerns are being raised as the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service has reported that more than 33,000 TSLS scholarship recipients have failed to complete their studies or had their awards terminated, and only 53 percent of graduates in the last 3 years managed to secure employment.
The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation says it is seriously concerned about the high non-completion of tertiary courses by students and unemployment of graduates.
FCEF Chief Executive Officer, Edward Bernard says these non-completion cases have come at a cost of $235 million to taxpayers and further loss of opportunity to fill the labour and skills gaps in Fiji and contribute to productivity and economic growth.
Bernard says more than 770 employers are bringing in foreign workers.
As of January 2025, about 6,400 work permits had been issued.
For the month of September 2026, work permit applications reached 1,080, the highest recorded in a month.
Bernard says employers and investors are very concerned about the state of our labour market as it is not working for Fiji based on supply side challenges.
The FCEF CEO says what is more concerning is that no Government agency is taking the lead role to address this national challenge.
While responding to Bernard, Minister for Employment, Filimoni Vosarogo says the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation has raised legitimate concerns about the state of Fiji’s labour market.
Vosarogo says the figures are sobering and presents a challenge for all of us - more than 33,000 Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service recipients have not completed their studies or had their awards terminated, at a reported cost of $235 million to taxpayers, while only 53 percent of graduates in the past three years have secured employment.
He says on the first issue — non-completion of tertiary and vocational programmes — the wastage of public funds is real but unacceptable.
Vosarogo says at its core, successful completion rests on personal drive, discipline and sustained focus.
The Minister says without these qualities, the risk of abandoning studies and squandering taxpayer investment becomes almost inevitable.
He adds the environment where our young live and study also matters.
Vosarogo says parental encouragement and family support play a special and often decisive role in strengthening a young person’s determination to finish.
The Minister says the Government will continue to improve support systems and accountability around scholarships, but no system can substitute for individual commitment and family backing.
He says on the second issue — graduates who complete their studies yet struggle to find work — the Government is already engaging constructively.
Vosarogo says they are working with the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation and tertiary education providers to examine the skills-gap analysis emerging from recent data.
He says the shared objective must be to align Fiji’s human resource stock more closely with the actual demands of employers and industry so that more graduates move into productive employment and the reliance on foreign labour can be reduced over time.
Stay with us for developments.
