Education will receive the largest share of Government spending in the 2026-2027 National Budget, with $883 million allocated to improve teaching quality, strengthen workforce skills and expand scholarship opportunities.
Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel said the Government was shifting its focus from improving access to education towards lifting the quality of learning and producing graduates with the skills needed to drive Fiji’s economy.
“Mr Speaker Sir, investment in education is investing in the future of our nation.”
Mr Immanuel said Government had already made significant progress in expanding access through free education, transport assistance, free textbooks and scholarship funding.
He said the next phase would concentrate on improving education quality, graduate employability, addressing national skills shortages, enhancing teacher welfare and retention, promoting character development and ensuring better value for public investment.
The education sector has been allocated $883 million, representing 18 per cent of the total national Budget, with the Ministry of Education receiving $708.3 million.
Of that allocation, $434 million will fund the salaries and wages of more than 13,000 teachers across the country.
The Budget also includes $61 million for the Free Education Grant, $54 million for transport assistance and $40 million for the Back-to-School Assistance programme.
A further $74.5 million has been allocated as operating grants for higher education institutions.
Mr Immanuel said those operating grants had been distributed based on recommendations from the Fiji Higher Education Commission, while no capital grants had been provided, encouraging tertiary institutions to pursue alternative funding for infrastructure projects.
The Finance Minister highlighted the Coalition Government’s decision to write off more than $650 million in tertiary student debt for over 53,000 students, replacing the previous loan system with merit-based scholarships tied to academic performance.
He said bonding arrangements had also been introduced to ensure graduates remained in Fiji and contributed to the country’s development after completing taxpayer-funded studies.
To support the scholarship programme, the Budget provides $160 million, enough to fund approximately 23,000 students, including 14,000 continuing students and 9,000 new recipients.
Mr Immanuel said scholarship programmes would be modernised and better aligned with Fiji’s future workforce needs.
He said additional places would continue to be created in high-demand fields such as nursing, medicine and technical trades, while greater assistance would be provided to students from rural, remote and maritime communities, students with disabilities and those pursuing technical and vocational education.
The Government will also introduce stronger accountability measures requiring scholarship recipients to maintain satisfactory academic performance.
Mr Immanuel said the reforms were intended to improve completion rates, strengthen financial accountability and ensure public investment produced highly skilled graduates capable of contributing to Fiji’s development.
To address evolving labour market demands, Government will also establish a new Postgraduate Diploma Scholarship Scheme to support professional upskilling in priority industries.
The Budget also continues funding for in-service public sector scholarships, apprenticeship programmes and technical skills training, with Mr Immanuel saying these initiatives would help address critical skills shortages, improve productivity and strengthen Fiji’s long-term economic resilience.
