Tertiary institutions will now be required to inform the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Service (TSLS) about “at-risk” bonded students who fail to meet academic standards. This is one of the major changes introduced in the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (Budget Amendment) Bill 2024. The amendments also address the cancellation of bonds for former TSLS students and penalties for those legally bound to TSLS who do not plan to fulfill their service obligations.
Education Minister Aseri Radrodro defined at-risk students as those who start failing assignments and assessments early on. Radrodro emphasized that this measure is to ensure that tertiary institutions offer necessary learning support and remedial programs to aid students, thereby reducing failure and non-completion rates. It is reported that $160 million has been wasted by 21,685 students who did not complete their programs.
Radrodro criticized this as a misuse of state resources and announced new provisions to address this issue. Penalties will be reinstated to ensure that taxpayers’ investment in education results in graduates working in Fiji, either within government ministries or local institutions. He noted that some students who are halfway through their bond period have been offered opportunities to work abroad, and paying off the remaining balance is a measure to deter them from leaving before completing their bond.
Graduates who wish to migrate or work overseas must first serve their full bond. If they choose not to, they will be required to pay the remaining balance along with a 50 percent penalty before being granted a travel release.
Additionally, Radrodro highlighted instances where institutions provided incorrect information to students to boost enrollment numbers, with some students being charged fees for non-funded programs. Some students were given offer letters stating they would receive scholarships even when they did not meet eligibility criteria. To address this, TSLS is conducting workshops for tertiary education institutions on scholarship eligibility criteria and can now take action against institutions providing false information.
The government supports healthy competition between tertiary education institutions, noting the widespread marketing efforts before the semester starts.