Gender and ethnicity are not part of the eligibility criteria for scholarships, says the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS) CEO Dr Hasmukh Lal.
He said scholarships were given to successful students by meeting the publicly available eligibility criteria.
“Every scheme has its qualifying merit,” Dr Lal said.
“There are 12 scholarship schemes, one study loan scheme, and three grant schemes.”
He said gender and ethnicity were not eligibility criteria for any of the schemes.
“The data is analysed after successfully awarding scholarships.
“The growth in the uptake of TVET scholarships should be a highly welcome call, given the loss of skilled labour due to global mobility trends and Fiji’s labour market data is unequivocal that almost 70 percent of the jobs are in TVET fields.
“TSLS funds 18 local tertiary education institutions. Out of this, 12 are TVET institutions, three are dual sector and three are only higher education focussed. Out of 12 TVET providers, most were made eligible for TSLS funding in the last three (3) years.”
Dr Lal said the Coalition Government increased TSLS operating grant to create massive awareness including visits to rural and maritime schools.
“Last year, TSLS visited all schools in the maritime area including Rotuma. This has led to an increase in the uptake of TVET scholarships.”
He said in line with sustainable development goal four (4), more equitable scholarship and grant schemes had been developed in the past three years and implemented effectively, creating equal opportunities and greater access for all Fijians.
“The yearly scholarship investment design and planning is not drained or deduced from population distribution based on gender and ethnicity but on the employment demand in the workforce, backed by data, researched information, and trend analysis. Scholarships have been awarded to those who have applied, successfully met the criteria, signed the scholarship agreement, bond and confirmation letter.
“Those who have not complied with aforementioned, scholarships were not awarded.”
