A free specialised online course in entrepreneurial skills will be offered at the Fiji National University (FNU) in partnership with Crystal Delta.
According to the university the online course will boost the capacity of those intending to start small and medium enterprise businesses due to the economic effects of COVID-19.
Acting FNU Vice-Chancellor Professor James Pounder said the programme will up-skill participants with the use of ICT to start a business and will offer a proper guide on preparing business plans which can be used to approach financial institutions for loans.
“We are aware that many people who have been affected by COVID-19 are looking at starting small businesses to earn extra cash and we are working on developing a simple and effective training that will provide people with proper guidance on starting a business and more importantly maintaining it so it can provide Fijians with a reasonable income,”Professor Pounder said.
The course has been developed in conjunction with Crystal Delta and will be offered via a new online learning initiative called “FNUOnline”.
The course has been designed according to principles of effective learning, through storytelling, visible learning, discussion, and community support.
FNUOnline offers Fijians with a powerful new way to learn online and provides an opportunity for individuals looking to upskill and improve their knowledge base with access to FNU courses through flexible online learning.
“There has been a lot of interest from the public and private sector to offer specialised training to their staff via FNUOnline, and we are very excited to be launching this platform in the next few weeks. While the platform will have a fee attached to its courses going forward, we felt that as the national University, we need to offer this course free to the public as our way of assisting those affected by the COVID-19 to get back on their feet,” Professor Pounder said.
FNUOnline, allows the University to reach new students that are not currently enrolled in the University, provide new online short courses that meet industry needs for professional development, enabling new pathways for learners to upskill, retrain, and transition into new career pathways.
FNUOnline will also allow current FNU students to study part or all of their current degree programme online through blended and/or fully online learning models.
In addition to Crystal Delta, FNU is partnering with DigitalFiji’s to use its Walesi service which will provide an additional platform for advertising and delivering FNUOnline programmes and courses.
