Cabinet has given time to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Solicitor-General’s Office to go through the legality of scrapping the Tertiary Education Loans Scheme and Toppers.
In a press conference, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said these three offices were instructed to go back and to thoroughly reconsider the legal and financial implications of the suspension of existing loan repayments and write-offs for all outstanding student debts owed to Government, and to bring the necessary legislative and policy amendments to Cabinet.
The Prime Minister also said that Cabinet has agreed that the current arrangement on TELS will continue for Semester One, 2023 and that it will be extended to students who want to undertake foundation studies.
He said Cabinet has removed the vaccination requirement for TELS recipients and approved the deferment of repayment under the Scheme to the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service until the relevant legislation is amended.
However, the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister, Pita Wise said that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Solicitor-General’s Office has time till the end of the first Semester to come back with the recommendations on the legal and financial implications of the suspension of TELS, as required by Cabinet.
