DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka has warned that Fiji must train more skilled workers to offset the growing loss of professionals seeking opportunities overseas.
Speaking at the opening of the Pacific Polytech Melrose Hotel in Sigatoka this week, the DPM said the loss of trained workers was a growing concern for the Government, particularly in the tourism and aviation sectors.
“We are proud that a Fijian is wanted abroad for their skill and their character. But when a trained chef or a licensed engineer leaves and is not replaced, the business that trained them is left short, and the country is left poorer,” Mr Gavoka said.
Mr Gavoka described the loss of skilled workers as a real challenge for Fiji, saying the solution was not to prevent people from seeking opportunities overseas, but to expand the country’s training pipeline.
“The answer is not to lock our people in. It is to train more of them, and to train them well, so that our pipeline fills faster than it empties.
“If we lose one supervisor, we must be producing three. Every student who trains in this hotel is one more skilled Fijian in the system.”
He said the Government’s role was to establish policies and laws, while institutions such as Pacific Polytech were responsible for developing the skilled workforce needed to implement them.
Mr Gavoka said Fiji also needed to make careers more attractive by providing workers with competitive wages, opportunities for promotion and dignity in the workplace. He said legislation passed by Parliament would have little impact without trained people capable of putting it into practice.
“That is why this Government makes policy in partnership with stakeholders like Pacific Polytech, and the Melrose Hotel is proof of how that partnership works.”
