Education Minister Aseri Radrodro has questioned the credibility of the Fiji National University’s (FNU) Bachelor’s Degree in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry program in Parliament this week.
The story of graduates being unable to secure employment after completing the six-year course as it wasn’t accredited in Fiji, was highlighted in this newspaper this week.
While responding to a motion to debate the review of FNU’s 2020 annual report, Mr Radrodro said this was a very sad legacy regarding the FNU operations. “It is very sad,” he said.
“The Ministry of Agriculture have also voiced their concerns in terms of the program that was offered, but FNU at that time did not listen to the experts from the Ministry of Education.
“We also note that the FNU Act was reviewed and amended to give the FNU autonomy to operate. Previously, we used to have the permanent secretary for Education as part of the FNU Council so as to ensure the programs have some input from the government.
“Now, the question that the students are asking, why are they being left behind? That is the question. Why are these students being left behind?” He questioned the calibre of lecturers brought in to teach this particular program.
“Were they of international certification? Were they of international recognition in terms of what they have with them in terms of their accreditation or the degrees that they brought with them to teach these programs at the FNU?
“The question of credibility of lecturers and resources also questions the validity and the authenticity of their qualification. These events were happening during the time of this report or after this report.
“They spent a good number of years at FNU and hopefully this will be addressed. These are some of the works that we have been tasked to address, the anomalies that were left behind by the previous government. We also are concerned because the livelihood of the students have been compromised. Now, they will not know how the FNU will give them certification to become certified vet.
“We have shortage of skills, we have shortages of vets as it can be confirmed by the Minister of Agriculture but when such programs have been run without proper certification or accreditation, it gives a lot of questions in how the university has been run over the years.”
In response, former Minister for Education Premila Kumar said the program started around 2014.
“The discussions and the talks went in, and what I’m told that FNU invited veterinarians from three different universities,” she said.
“They all came, had a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture, FNU and other institutions when this course was designed.
“But there were other complications, and I will leave it to our leader to discuss this in detail.”
