A People’s Alliance Government will cancel debts of over half a billion dollars in student loans to pay for their higher education, says Party Leader Sitiveni Rabuka.
Rabuka in a statement said unlike the FijiFirst Government, they have no intention of imposing on young people massive financial burdens.
“We totally reject the malicious propaganda by the FijiFirst party that a new student plan will be based on race. This comprehensive scheme will apply to all students equally. It is contained in our manifesto with no reference to race on this issue,” said Rabuka.
“I have also given details of our intention in a video that has been widely circulated. The PA initiative will remove the Tertiary Loans Scheme (TELS) and National Stoppers scholarships.”
“These will be replaced with full scholarships containing bond conditions. Students will serve a bond equivalent to the number of years they studied in higher education institutions.”
“They will work in Fiji for an average of three to four years in the private or public sectors, or with non-government organisations (NGOs).”
Rabuka said they will fund this initiative from an existing budget allocation of $162.6million.
“In forming our new approach we saw no merit or justice in a policy that forces students to start their adult lives with crippling bills.”
“That would compound the financial crisis already caused by the Minister for the Economy, Mr Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.”
He has saddled us with approximately $10billion dollars of national debt. That will have to be paid for over the years by all the families of Fiji. One calculation is that every person would pay about $11,000,” he added.
