The Auditor-General’s report has revealed that more than $11.6 million of funds allocated under the Tertiary Education Loan Scheme (TELS) went unspent in 2024, a shortfall the audit attributes largely to low student uptake across multiple programmes. The total budget for tuition and accommodation support that year was $112.9 million, but actual utilisation amounted to $101.2 million, leaving the unspent balance.
Of the original allocation, $69.3 million was released to the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS). A further $31.9 million was reallocated by the government to other priorities, including grants to polytechnics, the General Reserve, the National Toppers (local) scheme and public–private partnership initiatives in the health sector, the report states. Those reallocations mean a significant portion of the initial TELS budget did not flow into student loans and accommodation support as planned.
The audit documented a substantial number of funded places that simply were not taken up. Across TELS categories there were 576 unfilled spots set aside for new study loans, 194 places for qualification upgrades remained vacant, and 65 places reserved for existing employees and entrepreneurs were not used. These gaps point to weaker-than-expected demand for some tertiary pathways during the year.
The most pronounced shortfall was in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Fiji National University registered 3,098 unfilled TVET places in 2024, while other institutions accounted for an additional 62 unfilled spots. The magnitude of the FNU shortfall accounted for the bulk of the vacancy problem identified by the Auditor-General and represents the single largest concentration of unused funded places.
Lower student numbers also reduced demand under the Accommodation Support Scheme, the report found. With fewer students accessing funded places, fewer applicants required housing assistance, contributing to the overall underspend in the TELS envelope for the year.
The report’s findings highlight a discrepancy between allocations made in the budget and actual student enrolment and uptake of funded places. While the government moved to reallocate nearly $32 million of the original TELS budget to other sectors, the audit underlines the scale of unused educational funding stemming from low participation in targeted programmes.
The Auditor-General’s report does not set out future policy actions but its figures provide the latest official account of how TELS funding was used in 2024 and underline the need for closer alignment between demand forecasting, programme promotion and budget allocations for tertiary education.
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