As Fiji’s national university, FNU faces two important questions: 1) What programmes should we be offering to support the nations’ economic development today? 2) What programmes should we be offering to support the nation’s economic development over the next 5-10 years? These lead to two related research questions: 1) What are the graduate outcomes from our current programmes in terms of graduate employment rates and graduate salaries? 2) What knowledge, skills and competencies will employers need from graduates in 5-10 years? The first research question can be answered empirically by studying the data. Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) and Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) both hold data on the employment status and earnings of all Fiji residents, which are cross-referenced to an individual’s Tax Identification Number (TIN). In the case of graduates who have been in receipt of tuition fee loans, FRCS collects loan repayments through the tax system and remits them to the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Board (TSLB), so TSLB also holds data on graduate outcomes for the majority of Fijian graduates. The second research question cannot be answered empirically. No concrete data exist for the future demand for skilled labour. But in Fiji, there are government agencies like the Fiji Reserve Bank, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands & Mineral Resources which all aim to predict labour market trends. Investment Fiji and the Fiji Development Bank are both engaged in shaping the future labour market, by targeting emerging sector for inward investment. The various employers’ organisation like the Fiji Commerce and Employers are actively planning the future labour market. The talanoa held on 9 August by FNU brought together leaders and representatives of all these stakeholders to begin addressing both these important research questions. Fiji has a young population (the median age is 27 years) and the economy is developing rapidly. Educating our population is the key to Fiji’s continued economic success and it is critical that we are investing our resources in university programmes which meet the needs of employers today and in the future. The talanoa was a major step towards a better understanding of the demand for skilled labour in Fiji.

1. Aligning Fiji’s supply of graduates with
current and future demand
Professor Nigel Healey
nigel.healey@fnu.ac.fj
9 August 2018

2. Two key questions for us as the
national university:
1. What programmes should we be offering to
support the nations’ economic development
today?
2. What programmes should we be offering to
support the nation’s economic development
over the next 5-10 years?
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3. Which leads to two research
questions:
1. What are the graduate outcomes from our
current programmes in terms of:
Graduate employment rates?
Graduate salaries?
1. What knowledge, skills and competencies will
employers need from graduates in 5-10 years?
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4. Sources of data
1. Graduate outcomes:
This is an empirical question
The data exists in Fiji Revenue & Customs Service
(FRCS), Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and
the Tertiary Scholarships & Loans Board (TSLB)
1. Future graduate attributes:
This is a matter of judgement
Informed judgements could come from Ministries,
Reserve Bank of Fiji, Investment Fiji, Fiji
Development Bank, employers’ federations etc
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5. Why is answering these questions
important?
Fiji has a young population: median age is 27.5
years
Fiji is developing rapidly and becoming part of
the global knowledge economy
Education is the key to continued economic
development
In 2018/19, Government budget for education
will exceed $1bn
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6. Investing in tertiary education: the
implicit development model
Investment in tertiary
education…
…creates a highly-skilled
labour force…
…which drives productivity
growth and private sector
investment…
…and so economic
development
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7. Tertiary education in 1970 vs 2010
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Argentina: 2.52% Korea: 3.16%
Argentina: 2.87% Korea: 30.04%

8. Per capita GDP in Korea vs Argentina
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9. This only works if universities produce
employable graduates
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10. Reasons for graduate unemployment
Supply equals demand, but “skills mismatch”:
Universities graduates do not have the
knowledge, skills and competencies required by
employers
Vacancies for graduates coexist with graduate
unemployment
Excess supply:
Universities produce too many graduates for the
formal sector to absorb
There are few unfilled graduate vacancies, but
high graduate unemployment
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11. Matching graduate supply and demand
The main policy choices:
1.Ration the supply of university places (by discipline)
to meet forecast demand – enrolment caps
2.Have a market-driven system, where potential
students have reliable information on graduate
outcomes
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12. unistats.ac.uk
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13. Tertiary education in Fiji
National Toppers Scheme (NTS) provides 950 grants
(tuition/subsistence) in national priority subjects:
$43.8m in 2018/19
Enrolment caps, but at sectoral not institutional level
Tertiary Education Loans Scheme (TELS) provides
tuition and subsistence* loans
$205.6m in 2018/19
Market-driven, but no public data on graduate
outcomes
13* income-contingent

14. The need for data on graduate
outcomes
1. It would allow potential students to make
informed choice in a market-driven system
2. It would enable universities to adapt their
academic programmes to maximise graduate
outcomes
3. It would allow Fiji Higher Education Commission
(FHEC) to introduce enrolment caps if this
becomes the policy choice
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15. Data sources for current graduate
outcomes
Every Fijian resident has a unique Tax
Identification Number (TIN)
FRCS and FNPF hold data for each resident on
income and employer
FRCS use the tax system to collect TELS
repayments and return the finds to TSLB
The FRCS/FNPF/TSLB data is confidential, but it
could be anonymised and used by (for example)
the Fiji Bureau of Statistics to produce public
data on graduate outcomes
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16. Data sources for future graduate
demand
Government ministries
Fiji Reserve Bank
Investment / development banks
Employer federations
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“What are you
planning?” ”What
graduates will you need
to fulfil your plans?”

17. Conclusions
Education is central to Fiji’s continued economic
development
At tertiary level it is crucial to match the supply
of, and demand for, graduates
This requires:
Empirical data about today’s graduate outcomes
Informed judgements about future demand
The holders of this information are here in the
room!
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18. Vinaka!
Professor Nigel Healey
nigel.healey@fnu.ac.fj
Cell: 999-6622
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