Training opportunities are being sought for thousands of school dropouts in the Ba Province as community leaders move to tackle what has been described as an education crisis.
Soqosoqo Vakamarama iTaukei ni Yasana Ko Ba (SSViT) president Adi Sivia Qoro said too many young people are falling out of the education system, prompting a renewed push to bring them back into training, employment or business pathways.
Between 2018 and 2023, Ba Province recorded 22,000 school drop-outs, a situation the organisation has labelled “a crisis”.
Speaking at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Lautoka last Friday, Adi Sivia said the organisation would continue its education project this year to address the issue across the province.
The initiative, which began last year in partnership with Bread for the World, has secured funding for a further three years.
Adi Sivia said the project involves collaboration with the Fiji National University (FNU) and the Fiji Bureau of Statistics to better understand the scale and causes of school dropouts.
The report for the three pilot districts is with the group.
She said the program would expand this year with renewed collaboration, particularly with the Fiji College of Agriculture and the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, to deliver community-based training.
Adi Sivia said the project focuses on three key outcomes for students who leave school at senior levels.
“These youths can find their way back into the formal system, or they start their own businesses from the training, or they actually focus on their resources, and they can start to develop their own resources from the training that they will receive.”
