A HEATED exchange erupted in Parliament on Thursday over Pacific Polytech’s role in skills training, with Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj calling it one of the biggest education scams in this country — a claim the Government strongly rejected on the spot.
Minister for Employment Agni Deo Singh defended the institution, saying Pacific Polytech had produced thousands of graduates since last year.
“From October last year to now, Polytech has graduated 2086 students with micro-qualifications,” he said.
He added that more than 98 per cent were indigenous youth who had been “left out of the mainstream”.
Micro-qualification programs, he said, were reaching communities that had previously missed out on training.
“In Nabua alone, 1017 students were trained,” he said, with more students completing courses in Lami, Qauia and surrounding communities.
When questioned by Mr Maharaj on job placement numbers, the minister said he would seek the information directly from the institution.
“That is a new question … I will ask Pacific Polytech to provide the answer,” he told the House.
Tension rose when the Leader of Government in Parliament, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, objected to the word “scam”, saying it implied fraud.
“It is not a fraudulent setup,” he said. “It is already approved, legislated and we had budgeted for it.”
He asked that the word be withdrawn.
Speaker Filimoni Jitoko said he would review the Daily Hansard before ruling.
Mr Singh maintained that Polytech was delivering real skills development.
“These are what Fiji needs,” he said.
In yesterday’s sitting, Mr Jitoko asked Mr Maharaj to withdraw his statement describing Polytech as a “scam”.
