Pacific Polytech is stepping up preparations for its 2026 intake, with a renewed push into communities and the opening of a major new campus in the west, as it positions itself to help address Fiji’s growing skills shortage.
Speaking to The Sunday Times after a graduation ceremony at the institution’s Navua campus last week, Pacific Polytech director Peni Taoi said the institute had begun mobilising its marketing and outreach teams ahead of the new academic year.
“We are now starting our marketing team to go out to various communities to talk with stakeholders and prospective students,” Mr Taoi said.
A key development is the opening of the Namaka campus, which Mr Taoi described as one of the institution’s largest investments to date.
“That campus alone can take around 800 students,” he said.
“We will be offering about 27 programmes there, both National Qualifications (NQ) and Provider Qualifications (PQ), just like our other campuses.”
Pacific Polytech currently operates around 14 campuses across Fiji, delivering vocational and skills-based programmes tailored to local needs.
Mr Taoi said programmes would continue to be rolled out across all campuses, with an expanded range of provider qualifications coming on stream next year.
He encouraged prospective students and parents to consult the institution’s website for programme details and fees, while also drawing attention to the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS), which is now open.
“We will be starting on January 19, so this is the time I request students, parents and guardians to start filling in the forms,” he said.
Mr Taoi said he had met with the TSLS team and had been advised that approved students would be confirmed before the January start date.
However, he stressed that applications needed to be completed carefully.
“What needs to be done is that the form must be filled in 100 per cent error-free,” he said. “The onus is on the students themselves.”
He highlighted common issues faced each year, particularly incorrect or outdated contact details.
“Ensure that the evidence of what you are filling in is correct, especially your email,” he said. “If you put a mobile number, make sure it is the same number you are using. These are major issues we face when TSLS tries to contact students and cannot find them.”
Beyond expansion, Mr Taoi believes Pacific Polytech has a critical role to play in addressing Fiji’s workforce shortages, particularly as employers increasingly rely on foreign workers.
He said vocational institutions filled an important gap between universities and government ministries.
“You have FNU, Fiji National University, which has its own purpose,” he said.
“But vocational training is different. I came in to fill the gap between the university and the ministries, a gap that was not being filled.”
That gap, he said, included opportunities for people who had dropped out of school or had been left behind by the formal education system.
“If you look at the graduation today, these are people from the community,” he said.
“They’re not just coming to collect a piece of paper, that certificate is a qualification, a Certificate III.”
Mr Taoi said sustained support from government, regardless of which administration was in power, was key to long-term success.
“If we continue, and if the government of the day continues to provide assistance to people out there in the community, then I think in five or ten years’ time we will be able to fill this gap,” he said.
As graduates filed out of the Navua campus with certificates in hand, Mr Taoi said their presence alone was evidence that vocational training could be part of the solution, not only to skills shortages, but to giving people a second chance at education and employment.
A graduate of Pacific Polytech receives his certificate from Assistant Minister for the PM’s Office Sakiusa Tubuna during the graduation ceremony in Navua. Picture: VILIAME RITOVA
Pacific Polytech is aiming to help close the skills gap that exists in Fiji at the moment. INSET: director of Pacific Polytech, Peni Taoi. Picture: SUPPLIED
