Following serious concern by Fiji National University students on the increase in hostel fee, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad is calling on FNU to postpone the hostel fee increase until the next budget when the government will evaluate whether additional allowances are required due to the rise in hostel fees and other student expenses.
While speaking to fijivillage News, Professor Prasad says FNU had made this decision unilaterally without informing the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Education.
He says FNU is a fully funded government institution and at the time of the budget delivery, the government had already allocated funding, which included provisions for tuition fees and allowances.
Professor Prasad adds FNU had not informed any stakeholders and it should have been FNU’s responsibility to inform stakeholders about any planned fee hikes.
He says he had written to the Minister for Education, who oversees FNU.
The Deputy Prime Minister says the Ministry of Finance did not expect FNU to increase hostel charges or tuition fees because these were not included in the Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Scheme.
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He says he expects better communication from the university.
Professor Prasad says the fees had been increased by almost 50 percent, from $1200 to $1800, which is seen as unacceptable.
He says the additional $600 from the $1200 allowance would leave students with less money for other expenses.
The Deputy Prime Minister adds that the current allowances were reasonable, but with the increased hostel fees, students would face financial difficulty.
Questions have been sent to FNU and Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro.
They are yet to respond.
