Vinaka, A-G, For Your Timely Intervention, Understanding Of Topper’s Students’ Plight
Worried students are relieved that a decision by the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Board raising the qualification level has been stayed.
Instead, it will now be reviewed – thanks to the timely intervention and understanding of the AttorneyGeneral, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
The affected students took their plight to him and he listened. They were told by the TSLB that their scholarships would be suspended for the 2021 academic year if they failed to attain a GPA of 3.5 out of 4.5 as mentioned in the TSLB Handbook for this year for years subsequent to their first year.
But the students only enrolled in their respective programmes after they signed a contract with the TSLB that the GPA would be 3.0. A contract is a legal binding document between two parties. Any change has to be at least discussed by them and a joint agreement reached. This due diligence was not undertaken and the TSLB made a unilateral decision to increase the GPA. That is breach of the contract and wrong in law.
Incidentally, GPA stands for Grand Point Average. Programme results are graded with letters A, B, C and D (fail, below 50 marks). Those letters are given a numerical value and when they are added up, they produce the GPA.
Many students caught in this controversy are offered scholarships because their field of study will lead to qualifications that are needed for the job market. Some sectors of our economy are hiring expatriates because we are short of qualified, experienced and skilled workers in those areas.
These students are chosen on merit, based on GPA and other factors like strengthening our service industries.
Our economy is basically serviceoriented, and it requires smart and skilled workers.
The Topper’s Scholarship and Loans Scheme is a prominent initiative by the FijiFirst Government to fulfil a policy to build an educated and smart Fiji where no one is left behind. That is the narrative.
The TSLB’s incongruent conduct in the matter in question was inconsistent and not in harmony with that policy.
It was out of kilter with the narrative and placed the Government in a difficult and embarrassing situation because of the contradiction between the policy and its implementation.
No wonder Mr Sayed-Khaiyum acted swiftly to prevent any collateral damage.
Not only did TSLB not consult with the contractual partner (the students) it also failed to run it past the biggest stakeholder, the Government.
It is a Government institution set up in 2013 to administer and implement all the Fijian Government and Donor Funded Tertiary Education Scholarship and Loans Scheme. It is responsible for ensuring transparent and accountable management of Government funding provided for tertiary scholarships and loans.
In this case it failed the transparency and accountability test. It did not consult the students and the Government before it made the decision.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum disclosed that the TSLB made “a hasty decision without Government’s approval or consultation – to raise the requirements for student’s academic performance under the National Topper’s Scheme.” He made the disclosure after meeting the TSLB. Dean of the Fiji National University College of
Medicine, Solicitor-General’s Office and some of the suspended students. He said the TSLB should have consulted with the Government, educational institutions and students.
He said that error should be remedied as soon as possible. That means right away the students, suspended, should be back on their programmes.
This is a major blunder and the TSLB should be held accountable in the interest of good governance.
It must not happen again because of the emotional stress and trauma it caused.
In the current tough economic climate brought by COVID-19, climate change and its associated weather events like Cyclones Harold and Yasa, it is not all about just crunching the numbers. Human cost matters a lot and should be factored into any decision.
If the TSLB was allowed to go unchallenged it would have affected hundreds, even thousands of students and their families.
Imagine the social cost – the future of students in jeopardy or destroyed by an ill-conceived decision.
All the money so far spent on their programmes would go down the drain because of a difference of 0.5 - a mere fraction deciding the fate and future of the affected students.
University of Fiji Acting ViceChancellor Professor Shaista Shameem, who has led the charge for reforms in our tertiary education, has thanked Mr Sayed-Khaiyum for his responsiveness.
She raised an important issue about the competence and qualifications of officers making the decision in the TSLB. She has called on Government to review the board urgently.
It is understood that she has submitted to the board a raft of recommendations from a recent Roundtable at UniFiji’s Saweni campus on how we can improve higher education to suit the current needs in the job market and economy in as far as human resources are concerned for the next 10 years.
All the policies the Government draws up must be people-oriented and people-friendly. It means they must benefit the people. If they don’t, they are irrelevant and useless.
This was alluded to in the recent World Bank Reports as it works in partnership with the Fijian Government to rebuild our economy.
The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding for developing countries like Fiji has made available $160 billion for a 15-month period up to June this year to these countries.
It says this will help 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses and bolster economic recovery.
So, for large financial institutions like World Bank the bottom line is the people. In this case for TSLB it should be the students.
If it can’t see that then it has lost the plot and members should make way for new blood.