The Fiji International Conference on Indenture has been lauded as a success after concluding its fifth biennial gathering in Nadi last Friday.
Pacific Polytech chairperson Dr Ganesh Chand, speaking on the final day, confirmed the attendance record surpassed initial expectations.
“So, this is our fifth conference. We invite people from all over the world to submit their paper proposals, and then we select a few of them for presentation,” Dr Chand said.
“This year, we had over 80 presenters, which is a very encouraging number. We were expecting about 50, but we exceeded expectations. About 80 are online presenters from other countries.”
Dr Chand noted that the presentations covered a wide array of topics concerning indentured labourers, or girmitya, globally.
“Most of them are, of course, locals. We discussed a wide range of issues, from identity to health to artificial intelligence to indentured data, to religion, to language, the whole range of matters which concern girmitya not only in Fiji, but throughout the world.”
He confirmed that paper submission requires a formal process to maintain academic consistency.
“The field is open to anyone, but they must first submit the proposal.
“So that we know it is a standard, scientific standard for changing academic papers and very interesting, two and a half days so far.”
