For a developing country like Fiji, education must do more than provide qualifications — it must create pathways into meaningful employment and better livelihoods, says National Federation Party leader and former finance minister Professor Biman Prasad.
Officiating at the Pacific Polytech graduation in Tagitagi, Tavua, last week, Prof Prasad said Fiji needed a more flexible education system that recognised practical skills and allowed people to gain qualifications progressively.
He said people who may have missed educational opportunities earlier in life should be given a chance to return to learning, develop new skills and improve their earning potential.
“Whether you are 18 and beginning your working life or returning to the classroom after many years, what you have achieved deserves to be celebrated,” he said.
Prof Prasad also encouraged graduates to use their skills to find meaningful employment, start businesses, support their families and continue learning throughout their lives.
He said one of the things that stood out to him most was the diversity of those graduating, which demonstrated that learning should remain accessible regardless of age.
“I have always believed that education should give people another chance,” the professor said
“There should never be an age at which we tell someone that their opportunity to learn has passed.”
Prof Prasad said he particularly valued micro-qualifications and practical skills training because not everyone needed to spend three or four years pursuing a university degree.
He said Fiji’s economy also depended heavily on people with practical skills — those who could build, repair, install, maintain, cook, operate equipment, work with technology and perform the essential jobs that kept businesses and communities functioning.
He said strengthening the connection between education, skills and employment would give more Fijians the opportunity to build productive careers, improve their incomes and contribute meaningfully to the country’s economic development.
