Starting her own academy
THE COVID-19 pandemic undeniably left a devastating impact around the globe. As economic activity plummeted, many Fijians were left without stable and fulltime employment. Among the women who faced an uncertain future, was Swati
Nair, a mum with a decade of healthcare and caregiving experience.
Suddenly, as offices closed and people were stuck at home, she found herself in a dilemma.
However, as the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. But for that door of opportunity to open Nair had to take a bold step.
Banking on her years of experience, plus her training in technical and vocational teaching (TVET) and training of the trainers from the National Training and Productivity Centre (NTPC), she established the Prestige Caregivers Academy (PCA).
One year since its inception, her support team, consisting of her family and the women she works with, plays an enormous role in ensuring the continued success of the academy.
According to Nair, the academy is the fruition of a long-term goal she set for herself.
“PCA is doing caregiving like every other institute but we are very much real, I have taught diploma for eight years in healthcare and what I have learnt is that people nowadays need something realistic and fast,” the Rakiraki woman says.
“I took this program and tailor-made it so that it could be taught and grasped easily by people.
“We just run one course which is basic certificate in caregiving. If they want to further their studies, we have a Memorandum of Understanding with two institutions in New Zealand and Australia.
“The heart of PCA has always been to educate Fijians to look after their parents here . If they are employable, that's great but if not, it will always make them stronger to look after the elderly at home.”
She says her focus is on ensuring people, especially those in rural areas, are able to access caregiving courses to better look after their elders.
“We want to break barriers and the concept of classroom teaching so we work according to what our students need. Sometimes we are here beyond time. We hire community halls and charge a small fee of $350 but we carry all the equipment: electrical beds, wheelchairs, et cetera, and we train them according to those equipment.
“However, we don't just focus on electrical equipment. We also teach our students how to operate in environments using manual equipment. Thus, they have the basic knowledge and we teach both ways so they can use that knowledge at home or even when they go overseas.
“We also teach nutrition, how to cook food especially with the different NCDs around. So we do quite a lot in two weeks.”
While the course is not accredited as yet, Nair hopes to one day get it accredited with the Fiji Higher Education Commission (FHEC).
“We are working with the Fiji Higher Education Commission as of now to develop a new course.
“I've been asked to develop a course which increases the hours and gives some leeway for people to go abroad, we have separate MOUs for people to go abroad.”