SUCCESSFUL RECIPIENTS CAN CONTINUE UNDER VARIOUS SCHEMES

Students are expected to benefit from TELS for successive upgrades of their qualifications up to the first bachelor’s degree, allowing students who successfully complete their certificate and diploma programmes to continue under the various schemes.

Currently, there are 4603 students enrolled in certificate and diploma courses at various higher education institutions under the various schemes.

Apart from these students under TELS, those enrolled in technical colleges will receive their allowance payments.

$9.2million has been allocated for students who have passed Year 12 and meet minimum requirements for certain engineering courses at Fiji National University to also access TELS

All allowances under TELS will be paid on pro-rata basis per the academic load, on the recommendation of the Higher Education Institution.

Students required to take 4 units per semester or trimester that take less than 4 units will receive a lower proportionate allowance. For example, a student taking three units will receive 75 percent of the allowance due.

one-off Start up allowance of $300 will be provided to first degree graduates to assist them prepare them for job interviews. Graduates with household income of less than $30,000 are registered with the national Employment Centre and have yet to find employment are eligible to receive this one-off allowance. National Toppers Scholarship scheme: offers full scholarship to the top 630 students graduating from high school in the Fiji Seventh Form Examination to enroll in fields prioritized under the scholarship schemes. The fields of study correlate directly with Fiji’s current and projected human resource needs ($32.2million).

Other Existing Scholarships: funds students that are under old scholarship schemes, namely the Fijian Affairs Board, Multi-Ethnic Affairs; and Public Service Commission that were created prior to the TELTS and Toppers Scholarship ($3.7million).

Scholarship Scheme for Special Children supports students with special needs who enroll in higher education institutions. Around 75 students have been assisted under the programme since January this year ($200,000)

Other Overseas Scholarship Support Scheme funds supplementary allowances to Fijian Students studying overseas on donor funded and bilateral scholarships. Students will now receive an increased allowances of $5298 per annum from the current allowance of $3700 per annum an increase of the current range of $2500 to $3700.

Also there has been an increase in the allowances of students studying in foreign countries to about US $2400 allows students to meet their expenses in other countries. ARISHMA DEVI-NARAYAN Edited by Karalaini Waqanidrola