Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama this week proudly proclaimed to the students of the Fiji National University that since 2014 his government had assisted more than 22,000 FNU students through the TELS and Toppers schemes.
He was speaking as chief guest at the FNU Students Association Multicultural event held at the College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Koronivia on Monday.
While the bald statistics thus stated may sound impressive, the stark realities behind the Toppers and TELS schemes is not something a government should be proud of.
It fails to show that through these schemes, TELs in particular, the Fiji First government has basically shifted the cost burden of education from the State to the students and parents themselves.
Our research has shown that most TELS students are starting their post-graduate lives with a debt burden of at least $50,000, if not more.
This is a shocking start for a young person to begin his or her working life. Why has there been this marked paradigm shift in the State’s role in providing access to education without student’s incurring huge debts to attain tertiary qualifications?
The Prime Minister’s boast sounds hollow when viewed against the policies of former governments. Let’s use December 2006, as the watershed between government policy on educational assistance then and now.
Polices of previous governments
The Labour government of 1999 introduced a Students Loan Scheme to assist tertiary students who missed out on scholarships. This was intended particularly to assist those from low income families with financial constraints.
The scheme was continued by the Qarase government and renamed TELS by the Bainimarama government.
TELS, therefore, is not an initiative of this government, as it would have people believe.
But importantly, at that time (1999), the Students Loan Scheme was a supplementary programme running parallel to the Government scholarships which were available through the Fijian Affairs Board, the Multi Ethnic Ministry and the Public Service Commission.
In 2006, for instance, close to 4000 scholarships (full and partial) were annually given out through these three State agencies. That figure may well have at least doubled by today if the policy had not been scrapped.
These scholarships were granted largely through affirmative action programmes, based on a means test to ensure assistance for the needy. In addition, dozens of scholarships were also available through donor countries.
Compare this with the situation today. Just 600 scholarships are available when thousands seeking university education are forced to either pay for it themselves or take out loans which they may not be able to repay.
The number of State scholarships was drastically slashed by the Bainimarama administration in 2014 except for the 600 under the Toppers Scheme. But different criteria apply to qualify for these.
The only other Government scholarship available today, is the 20 full-time assistance to students with special needs. Besides this, a small number of non-government scholarships continued to be available from donor nations but these have been suspended since 1 August 2020 because of the travel restrictions ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Students seeking tertiary education were thus much better off under previous governments than they are under the Fiji First government. This is why I am saying that the Bainimarama government has shifted the burden of responsibility for education from the State to students and their parents.
Toppers Scheme
The Toppers is an elitist scheme initiated by the Fiji First government. Up to 600 scholarships under this scheme are available to students who are top achievers.
Toppers is not means-tested or based on family income. This means that students from even the very well off families qualify for Toppers scholarships.
This approach to the award of State benefits creates a class system among the student population with achievers given special status – a most undesirable practice.
It is purely based on marks and grades and creates an elitist class of students.
Such policies defy the norms of social justice. Students from poor families who do not make it to the top grade receive no State assistance. Where is the compassion towards the underprivileged in society?
Equally disturbing is the fact that, in practice, Toppers has turned out to be discriminatory. There is a lot of criticism from the indigenous community that their children are missing out on scholarships.
Past governments practiced affirmative action policies in education to ensure a level playing field for all communities because of their differing economic and social standing. The Bainimarama government has scrapped all that to the disadvantage of the poor in our society.
The TELS Scheme
TELS is a loans, not scholarship scheme. Loans have to be paid back, in most cases, with interest.
In practice it has turned out into a form of servitude because students are bonded to the government until the loan is paid back which may take decades, if one is able to land a job.
TELS students with outstanding loans are stop-listed by the Immigration Department for overseas travel. In case of an emergency they have to seek special permission to travel.
As pointed out earlier, taken together with interest, most graduating students end up with a debt burden of at least $50,000 by the time they finish studies.
Youth unemployment is currently quite high. Prior to the onset of the coronavirus it stood at 24%. Since then, according to most independent surveys, it has surged much higher. There is no guarantee therefore that a graduate will get a job and repay the loans.
It places an unacceptably huge debt burden on a graduate starting his/her life, even if they were able to get a job.
The Prime Minister would have made better sense if he had talked a little on the pressing issue of youth unemployment and explained to students the steps his government was taking to create jobs for young graduates. It may have been of some comfort to them, if nothing else.
The policies of the Fiji First government on accessing tertiary education will need to be drastically reviewed if disaster is to be averted in the lives of thousands of our young people who today find themselves caught in a debt trap from which their escape seems uncertain, at least for now.
Religious tolerance
The Prime Minister also made reference in his address to Fiji’s history of politically driven communal strife erupting into violence – no doubt a reference to our four coups- and religious intolerance, adding:
“Make no mistake, there are some today still practice and advocate division and seek to drag us back to that painful past. These people would pervert religious ideals to divide our people and pit Fijians against Fijians. Always, always, always, their aim is to garner power for themselves.”
While racism and religious fundamentalism do exist and have been responsible for creating deep divisions in our multiracial and multi-cultural society, the Prime Minister would do well to look closer to home, rather than pointing fingers at others.
He needs to look within his own party, Fiji First, to see blatant examples of cultural nepotism at work.
- Mahendra Chaudhry is the former prime minister of Fiji, Fiji Labour Party leader and also the general secretary of the National Farmers Union. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
