The Fiji Higher Education Commission (FHEC) is facing a major monitoring challenge with only three officers responsible for monitoring 54 registered higher education institutions across Fiji.
FHEC director Dr Eci Naisele said the commission’s key role was to ensure institutions and their programs remained credible and continued to meet quality standards.
“Quality is what the industries want as output,” he said.
Dr Naisele said while institutions underwent a registration process before being approved, maintaining standards after registration required continuous monitoring.
“Sometimes after a school has been registered, give it one or two years, they sort of slide back to where they used to be because of non-compliance and also not close monitoring from our side.”
He said FHEC currently monitored about 54 fully registered institutions, but limited manpower remained a challenge.
“I only have three staff that does all the monitoring for the 54 institutions.”
He said the partnership with the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS) would help strengthen monitoring because both organisations work with many of the same institutions.
“When TSLS comes on board, so they also conduct, because of a follow-up to the students that they sponsor in terms of the schools that they’re in, it helps strengthen our monitoring role.”
He said the memorandum of understanding signed between the two organisations would also allow them to work together to quality assure the delivery of programmes at registered institutions.
Dr Naisele said the focus was not only on institutions but also on ensuring students supported through government funding received credible qualifications.
He said accreditation remained an important part of maintaining standards because it ensured institutions had the necessary resources, facilities and qualified staff to deliver programs.
