About 500 students enrolled at the five campuses of the Technical College of Fiji (TCF) received their certificates during their graduation ceremony today.
Speaking at the event, Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Hon. Rosy Akbar emphasized on skilled workforce being the hallmark of any developed economy and skills-training being extremely important for the economic development of any country including Fiji.
"TCF has provided a pathway for children of poor household to obtain a skilled based internationally recognised qualification thus opening the doors for their and their families’ prosperity in Fiji and abroad," Minister Akbar said.
“Under the Fijian Government’s initiative TCF was established to give opportunities to our children who have been left out, marginalized because of their deferring circumstances pushing them to drop out of school and thus losing hope for a brighter future.”
“The Fijian Government has allocated an unprecedented sum of $255m in the 2018/2019 national budget to assist Fijians realize their dream of attaining tertiary education and ensure that no young person is left behind, even at the tertiary level because they cannot afford it,” Minister Akbar added.
Minister Akbar congratulated the students for their hard work and dedication in reaping the benefit of their graduation and encouraged them to be good ambassadors of TCF as well as to excel in their chosen careers.
There are 15 Technical College Campuses in the urban, remote areas and in maritime zones and since 2016 about 4,466 students have graduated from TCF.
“The Fiji Higher Education Commission has been working with the TCF to have quality assured programmes in place and as a result, TCF has been the champion of delivering National Qualifications over the last three years,” Minister Akbar highlighted.
Minister Akbar revealed that from 1st August TCF administration will be under Fiji National University.