University of Fiji vice-chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem says data needs to be shared to back up Monash University academic Professor Parnesh Narayan’s remarks at the recent Higher Education Forum.
“I am sure Prof Narayan had data to support some of the points he made at the FHEC forum, although he did not share his data with the participants,” she said.
“I for one would have liked to know the factual basis of some of his statements as most of the Fijian Higher Education Institutions attending the inaugural forum have been in the education business for a long time, in one or two cases for a century or more, and higher education in Fiji is an extension of education more broadly.
“So a bit more backup to illustrate the points he made would have been very useful as he is also a member of the Fiji Higher Education Commission.” S
he said Prof Narayan’s claim that Fiji was funding unemployment needed evidence.
“By this statement, I think he meant that the education and knowledge that HEIs provide do not lead automatically to employment in the industries we have in Fiji.
“Again, there was no evidence provided to support this statement.
“For example, there should have been an analysis of unemployment figures for the past 10 years or 25 years (being a generation) before anyone can say that we have more unemployment now in Fiji than before.
“Even if we do have more unemployment than before, there are more reasons for that than the reason he gave.
“For example, we need to look at the causes of cyclic recession in the world, the rise of multi-national corporations in the 20th century and the cheap labour provided to them from the Third World, the rise of the underclass in a neo-liberal economic system which has failed everyone, the regulatory accessibility of industries to tax havens and tax-free zones thus removing tax revenue from public spending in education, health and social welfare, the unsustainability of some industries in Fiji, especially during a crisis such as COVID-19 or cyclones and the lack of diversification in our economy with its major emphasis on tourism.
“So more analysis is required before we can make statements like that at what was a very important forum with experienced educators and Fijian intellectuals attending who are very familiar with the context in which they have operated for a very long time and fully understand the knowledge economy.”
