Acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has handed out grant awards to 23 Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students.
Sayed-Khaiyum says a total of $1.2 billion has been spent since the establishment of the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Services in 2014, an initiative no other Government has ever done in the history of Fiji.
According to a government statement, 53,115 Fijians have been assisted with Toppers and TELS, where the majority of students are females than males.
[images: Fijian Govt.]
Sayed-Khaiyum says with the COVID-19 pandemic, government revenue halved overnight, the borders were closed, its ability to generate revenue was reduced and the reduction of Gross Domestic Product led to a strain on government spending.
He says despite this, the government continued to fund the key areas such as free secondary and primary education programs, poverty alleviation programs, food vouchers for pregnant women in rural areas and the disability allowance scheme. He further explained that traditionally, the number of students seeking technical courses was low, but now about 80 to 85% of Toppers are pursuing technical courses such as engineering, nursing, marine science, land surveying and more.
The Minister for Econony also stated that prior to COVID, the government provided scholarships for people to study overseas, in particular, fields in which Fiji had no courses available.
He says there are certain areas in science among undergraduate studies, including architecture, which isn't offered in Fiji, hence the government has a limited number of scholarships available for that area as well.
Sayed-Khaiyum has encouraged the students to study hard and always be honest and diligent in their work.
