Healey highlights lack of residential accommodation is a challenge for FNU

FNU Vice Chancellor Professor Nigel Healey says one of the challenges they face as a university is lack of residential accommodation.

While submitting their 2017 Annual Report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Healey says that they can only provide accommodation to 10% of the students.

He says they have about 20,000 students and 2,000 beds.

Healey says they are upgrading all hostels adding they have a lot of land and they are looking at making new hostels.

He says they will also need hostels at their new Labasa Campus.

He told the committee that they are working with Investment Fiji and Fiji Development Bank for possible Private Public Partnership.

He also mentioned that another challenge for them is the review of the tuition fees.

Healey says they have not reviewed the tuition fees for a while and that means they depend on government for their operating grants.

Healey says that they need to review the tuition fees and phase it but they will do it sensitively because they know students study through TELS.