FNU TALANOA Without Thinkers, Society is Stagnant, Reddy says
One of the critical roles universities fill is holding thinking communities. Without thinkers, societies remain stagnant.
This remark was made by Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Mahendra Reddy yesterday during the first Fiji National University Research talanoa session with representations from other ministries at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. He said research was one of the fundamental tools governing educational advancement.
“It is for this reason that the last sitting of Parliament passed a legislation to establish a National Research Council,” Mr Reddy said.
“The objective of this Act was to make provision for a national body to fund activities designed to raise standards and development of research, and development of scientific, health, educational, industrial, technological, social and economic areas, and promote the consideration of ethical issues relating to research and development.
“One of the key characteristics of this Bill is that it mandates the council to maintain a sustainable fund, to be known as the National Research Fund, which must be used for funding research and development proposals according to the priorities established by the council.” FNU vice-chancellor Professor Nigel Healey said for FNU to make a difference, they needed to focus on research which mattered here in Fiji.
“FNU has the capacity to focus its research to finding solutions for the major policy issues Fiji faces,” Professor Healey said.
“FNU is ready to focus its research on supporting the nation’s economic and social development in the same way we aspire to do with our teaching.”