Review TVET as schools are creating workers not creators – FNU lecturer

Our schools are designed to teach people to work for somebody else such as an organisation, an enterprise or the governmental and a call is being made to re-look at TVET and enterprise education due to the level of unemployment.

While speaking during a public consultation on the Education Act 1966 at Fiji National University Nasese Campus, Assistant Lecturer for Psychology Sumiran Pratap says this is probably why Fiji has a problem where we do not have creativity and enterprise thinking reflected in the curriculum.

Pratap also raised concerns about rising unemployment and asks whether graduates are not being employed because they are unqualified or simply because there are not enough jobs available.

He says TVET has always been seen as second-rate, and although institutions like FNU are doing good work in short courses, the totality is still not enough.

He adds that schools have limited vocational options, and the system still assumes that passing exams guarantees a job.

The lecturer says not everyone qualifies through the academic system, and asks what happens to the rest. Pratap says there has been developments in the technical and vocational space but much more needs to be done.

He stresses the curriculum needs urgent reform to match the realities of the employment market.

Consultation on the Education Act continues next week.