FIJI NATIONAL VOCATIONAL

TRAINING POLICY

1.INTRODUCTION
Human resources or people are the most important economic
asset of a country. They are the real wealth of any nation.
Without them there can be no development. Too many
people, however, can be an obstacle to development.

The dimensions, attributes and distribution of Fiji’s population

over different activities, occupations and geographic areas
characterize the nation’s stock of human resources. Its
dimensions refer to the size of the population and labour
force, and their age structure and sex distributions.

The attributes of the population relate to quality indicators of

health, nutrition and educational status as well as the nature
of deployment of the labour force. Because qualitative and
quantitative aspects are incorporated in these concepts, it is
impossible to arrive at a unique cardinal measure of the stock
of human resources.

Yet, planning for the enhancement of these and other aspects

of human resources development is widely conceived as being
desirable, both as a means of attaining increased productivity
and economic growth, and as an inherently desirable goal for
promoting a higher level of welfare and a richer quality of life,
via increased health and educational attainments, for
individual members of society.

In the context of educational attainments, vocational

education and training becomes an important vehicle to
propelling Fiji’s human resources into a stable and profitable
socio-economic existence.

2.BACKGROUND
At the macro-level, the Government of the Republic the Fiji
Islands has in the last few decades supported policies favoring
import substitution, internal self-sufficiency and heavy
government involvement in the economy.

Such policies were failing to generate the market scope and

investment necessary to sustain growth. The economic
 policies instituted by the previous governments, based on
comprehensive review of economic policy, highlighted the
need to accelerate the rate of development.

This was regularly addressed at previous National Economic

Summits, resulting in changes to the government’s key policy
elements. These were described as being:

(I) deregulation of the economy to bring domestic prices

more closely into line with world prices;

(II) restraint in the growth of government expenditure to

ensure availability of resources for growth in the private
sector;

(III) reform of the system of direct and indirect taxation to

minimize market distortion and improve incentives for
risk taking and effort;

(IV) a wage policy that recognizes the paramount importance

of maintaining international competitiveness;

(V) the mobilization of all sectors of the community in

support of economic expansion, in particular, increased
Fijian participation in commerce and industry; and

(VI) the re-orientation of sector policies in accordance with

the above general policies

The implementation of these new policy statements further strained

an already depleted technical work.
If Fiji is to survive in the global socio-economic arena it needs to put
in place strategic intervention measures at all levels to be able to
survive the onslaught of global changes and innovations. A key
driver to these interventions apart from others lies in the
development of a robust Vocational Education and Training system
to boost the development of its workforce, for without which this
country will not survive.

3.DIFINITION OF VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION
To assist in the development of this policy it will be necessary to
draw some clarifications as to the definition of this seemingly
misconstrued field in human resources development.

Vocational Education [or Vocational Education and Training (VET),

also called Career and Technical Education (CTE)] prepares learners
for careers that are based in manual or practical activities,
traditionally non-academic and totally related to specific trade,
occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learner
participates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, as
the learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of
techniques or technology.

Generally, vocation and career are used interchangeably. Vocational

education might be confused with education in a usually broader
scientific field, which might concentrate on theory and abstract
conceptual knowledge, characteristic of tertiary education.
Vocational can be at the secondary and post-secondary levels and
can interact with the apprenticeship system. Increasingly, vocational
education can be recognized in terms of recognition of prior learning
and partial academic credits towards tertiary education.(e.g. at a
university) as credit; however it is rarely considered in its own form
to fall under the traditional definition of a higher education.

Up until the end of the twentieth century, vocational education

focused on specific trades such as for example, an automobile
mechanic or welder, and was associated with the activities of lower
social classes. As a consequence, it attracted a level of stigma.
Vocational education is related to the age-old apprenticeship system
of learning.

However, as labor market becomes more specialized and economies

demand higher level of skills, governments and businesses are
increasingly investing in the future of vocational education through
publicly funded training organizations and subsidized apprenticeship
or traineeship initiatives for businesses. At the post-secondary level
vocational education is typically provided by an institute of
technology, or by a local community college.

Vocational education has diversified over the 20th century and now
exists in industries such as retail, tourism, information technology,
funeral services and cosmetics, as well as in traditional crafts and
cottage industries.

The proceeding Fiji National Vocational Training Policy (FNVTP) has

been developed along the parameters of the above definition.
 4.ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT
STATUS OF VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
Given the above definition it could be drawn from past records and
references that the parameters of Vocational education and training
in Fiji has always not being clearly demarcated and is often confused
with Technical & Vocational education and training (TVET). However,
previous official and unofficial reports written on Vocational
Education & Training in Fiji have identified several common issues or
gaps that impacts on its effective and efficient delivery. The
common issues or gaps are discussed below in italics:

a) There is no national training policy that can be viewed as a

discrete statement of the government’s intentions. The existing
policy statements of the government are lacking in specificity as
regards the national training system. Those endeavoring to improve
the national system see no national coordination mechanism in
place that can be used as a guide to future directions.

b) Development policies are not encouraging entrepreneurs to hire

more people as they are unsure of the government’s attitude to
expansion of their business opportunities. The policies of the
government are intended to stimulate growth. Without a trained
workforce and the means to provide continued support to employers
of adequately trained personnel, the move to capitalize at the
expense of jobs has to be real options for some enterprise
managers.

c) The policies are not reflecting the needs of skilled workers or

those being trained. The implementation of these policies has
further strained an already depleted technical workforce to the point
where today the shortage of a sound skilled workforce is a major
concern to policy planners, government instrumentalities and
enterprise managers. Labor market reform needs to be addressed at
all levels of the economy.

d) The employment statistics are not capable of tracking school

leavers. Of those who do get some form of employment little is
known as to whether they are employed in relevant fields. This puts
the external efficiency of publicly funded vocational training in
doubt. Similarly those waiting for employment have few avenues to
explore employment opportunities as there are insufficient funds to
provide adequate vocational guidance.

e) The vocational training being provided through the secondary

education system has been reviewed a number of times but little
action has been on the recommendations for improvement. The
education system relies heavily on the school-based training
provided through the various non-government agencies.
Collaboration and coordination with post school training providers
requires improvement

f) There appears to be little coordination of government expenditure

on education and training for in 1996 was in excess of $58.5 million
and distributed to a total of 19 separate entities. The distribution of
resources requires analysis to determine what proportion of the total
allocation is being spent on training to either enhance the skills of
those currently employed or the unemployed.

g) There is no national recognition of many of the certificates issued

by a number of public and private sector providers of vocational
education and training programs. The range of programs available
to the trainees is restricted to the courses offered in each institution.
The more established private sector institutions have an agreed
target group, including specifically disadvantaged groups, mainly
male youth, and as such their training is acknowledged with
certificates. These do not always receive national recognition as
there is no national skills test developed or available in many cases.
The problem is further compounded by the fact that there is no
coordinating agency for maintaining standards of vocational
education.

h) There is lack of expertise to develop skills testing to meet current

industry requirements. The original skills test developed in the
1970s require substantive reviews and constant upgrading as in
some cases are not meeting today’s technology change. There is a
need to review existing skills testing question banks and the criteria
for assessment of the levels of skills test to match current practice.

i) Apprenticeship is not being supported by some sectors of industry

due to the time and cost involved during the training period.
Apprenticeship as a means of producing skilled workers has been
seen to be less popular with employers in recent times yet there has
been little change to the modern apprenticeship system for more
than a generation.

5.LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION

According to the government’s Strategic Development Plan 2003 to
2005, only about one third of Fiji’s labour force is engaged in formal
sector paid employment. Despite fluctuations, paid employment has
gradually increased from 81,082 in 1985 to 114,100 in 1999.
However, there has been a declining trend since, with paid
employment in 2000 recorded at 111,500.

Job creation has not accelerated at a pace equal to or exceeding

that of the growth in labour supply and has certainly been
insufficient to provide jobs for the 17,000 or so job seekers looking
for work each year. Unemployment was estimated to around 5.8
percent of the total labour force in 1996. Unequivocally, the
situation has worsened since the May 2000 crisis, with
redundancies, as well as reduced incomes through shorter working
hours.

Securing decent jobs for the estimated 17,000 job seekers is one of
the major challenges for Government. This requires high economic
growth. It is important to note that growth in output and hence
employment, would have been higher if investment had remained at
pre 1987 levels. Creating the right business environment for
investment is clearly needed to secure jobs for school leavers.

A major hindrance to job growth has been the inadequate

functioning of the labour market. Lack of information and wage
rigidities exacerbate skill shortages. A web based Computerized
Human Resource Information System (CHRIS) to collate labour
market information will ensure that it is available to a wide
audience. Greater involvement of the private sector in the National
Strategic Human Resources Plan should address major issues
confronting utilization and strengthening of human resources in Fiji
in the short and medium term.

There is also a need for employment placement centers where job

seekers can have access to job broadcasts and receive specific job
interview training. A comprehensive accreditation system of
qualifications of trained manpower, a vacuum that hinders
employers assessing the capabilities of job seekers, as measured by
local and international standards, is also needed.

In addition, institutional wage setting should be replaced with

market- determined rates of remuneration that are performance
based and reflect the availability of skills.

The Reserve Bank’s quarterly surveys of Job Advertisements, a

partial indicator of labour market conditions, report significant rises
in recruitment intentions, mainly underpinned by firms in the
community, social and personal services and wholesale / retail trade
and hotels sectors. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank / Fiji Employers
Federation Expectations quarterly surveys show general optimism
for employment prospects.
The National Strategic Human Resource Plan (2003 to 2007)
(NSHRP) identified major key issues with regards to the Labour
Market systems in Fiji and mapped out the following intervention
strategies and policies to address some of the cumulative
employment issues and skills gap brought about by decades of
political instabilities in Fiji:

a) Depressed state of the labour market, redundancies,

shortened working hours and reduced earnings

The political upheaval of May 19, 2000 and December 5 th 2006

distorted the natural forces of supply and demand in Fiji’s labour
market resulting in redundancies, shortened working hours and
reduced earnings.

The hardest-hit sectors were manufacturing, especially the Textile,

Clothing and Footwear industry as well as the construction and
tourism sectors.

The political instability and law and order problems transpired from
the crisis, resulted in low business and tourism confidence. The
growing uncertainty and lack of investment lead to fewer
employment opportunities and thus more unemployment and under-
employment.

The social evils of unemployment and crime will continue to plague

the Fiji economy as employment opportunities are limited as well as
when those already in employment find it hard to make-ends meet,
due to reduce earnings.
Short term policies to address these are:

o Prioritize and advance the implementations of major capital

development projects that generate many employment and
income generating opportunities
o Coordinate the formulation, implementation and monitoring of
employment creation strategies.
o Government to ensure full implementation of the IHRDPEP
o Encourage low cost FDB borrowing.
o Extend the business trading hours.
o Exporters to access low-cost export-credit financing from the RBF via
the FDB.
o Provide support to workers made redundant
o Government to continue to arrange and secure agreements with multi-
lateral and bi-lateral agencies for schemes overseas.
o Government to formulate redeployment employment strategies for
reorganized entities
o Financial and Structural Reforms
 b) Labour Supply Exceeds Labour Demand

Considering the pace of emigration since the late 1980s, the rate of
labour force participation of women, the Public Service employment
rate, the trend of private formal sector investment, it is forecast that
the annual number of new labour force entrants will outstrip
employment opportunities in the formal sector by more than double
over 2003-2007 period. (See Appendix Table 1).

New job seekers will be obliged to seek any income-generating

activity available, including those that they will need to create
themselves.

While the rate of unemployment is expected to remain constant

during the plan period, the incidence of under-employment will
increase rapidly because job seekers will be forced into low
productivity activities in the informal sector. First-time job seekers in
rural areas not taking up cash crop activities will be obliged to fall
back on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods.

Of the estimated 17,000 new labour force entrants each year,

school leavers, including those from tertiary institutions, are
expected to comprise 14,000 of the total. (See Appendix Tables 2
and 3). Those 7,000 with Form 5 level education completed or less
will be at a particular disadvantage. They will not be eligible for
most of the post-tertiary training opportunities available and will be
skipped over by formal sector employers who now expect Form 6
level as a minimum for most entry-level jobs. (Appendix Table 4
indicates that over 3/4 of all jobs in the formal sector taken up
between 1991 and 1997 went to persons with Form 6 level
education or higher).

The National Strategic Human Resources Plan (NSHRP) 2003 – 2007

proposed strategies and short term policy directions as follows;
Grand Strategy: Stimulate increased number of income earning
opportunities aimed at absorbing those entering the labour force in
the 2003--2007 period
Strategy 1: Aim to generate a net additional 3,000 paid employment
opportunities a year in the formal sector through private sector
expansion (see Appendix Table 13).
The related policy directions spelt out the following:
o Expand the number of places in tertiary institutions in Fiji to
meet demands in particular occupations.
o Encourage investments to generate higher levels of output
and employment.
o Identify and publicize those areas of production of goods and
services based on Fiji’s comparative international advantage
 (such as data processing food/agriculture, mining ventures
and audiovisual industries
o Provide maximum support to on-going economic activities that
offer particular promise for expansion and employment-
generation, especially those operating in highly competitive
international markets.
o Co-ordinate with the private sector to ensure that the pre-employment
training being provided to new job-seekers corresponds to the needs of
employers for filling the new jobs they create.
o Government in partnership with the private sector will provide
opportunities for school leavers to gain experience and job-
related training by providing incentives to employers
o Government in partnership with NGOs and the private sector
to support the employment of disadvantaged job-seekers.

Strategy 2: Generate new income-earning opportunities by

providing the conditions necessary for the growth of viable
small and micro enterprises (SMEs). Combined with
programmes under Strategy 3 below, aim for creation of
an additional 7,000 new work opportunities a year. (See
Appendix Table 1).

The short term policies are as follows:

o Co-ordinate all assistance to would-be small and micro entrepreneurs
to ensure best use of resources.
o Identify activities that could be undertaken by new urban- and rural-
based SMEs based on market demand and identify suitable candidates
to set up the enterprises.
o Provide the finance required to set up new and expand existing SMEs.
o Provide the training and marketing assistance required by newly
established SMEs to ensure that they are competent in operating an
enterprise and are able to market their output.
o Promote the development of eco-tourism as means of community
development and generation of income-earning opportunities.

o Promote rural non-farm activities that offer potential for income and
employment-generation.

o In consultation with village leaders, develop community-based (non-

farm) employment and training programmes responding to the
identified needs of communities for development and their youth for
employment opportunities.

Strategy 3: Expand income-earning opportunities in cash crop

agriculture and the required training as targeted on rural-
 based school leavers and others interested in farming as a
business.
The short term policies are as follows:
o In conjunction with appropriate infrastructure development,
promote the concept of small scale farming as a viable
business suitable for rural youth to take up as their livelihood
o Support the expansion of training in appropriate forms to
equip youth to operate their own farming ventures profitably.
o In partnership with NGOs, Government to provide the
necessary micro finance, marketing, and other assistance to
youth and other established farmers required to ensure that
their farming enterprises become successful business
operations
o Support larger-scale farming operations as an employment option for
appropriately trained youth by providing a favorable environment via
Government agricultural development strategy as included in the SDP
for private entrepreneur-led agricultural development.

Strategy 4: Expand income earning opportunities in the export of

value added fisheries and forestry products

Short Term policies:

o Promote the rational development of the fisheries and forest sector
through training and development of resource owners.

c) Persisting Skill Shortages

A major factor hindering economic growth and development in the

Fiji Islands is the persistent shortage of skilled workers and middle
and high-level managers. These shortages in turn are resulting in
employment opportunities foregone that such growth and
development would have generated. It is not only a problem of
meeting the demand of employers for additional qualified personnel,
but the result of the steady drain of experienced manpower from the
workforce caused by emigration.

Within the formal sector, it is the Public Service, where over two-
thirds of middle and high level workers with the requisite tertiary
level education and training are employed, that suffers the most
from manpower shortages. Some 10 per cent of all established
posts in the Public Service are vacant due to inability to recruit and
particularly to retain professional and technical personnel required,
such as medical doctors, nurses, engineers, and scientists.

It is expected that the problem of skill shortages exacerbated by

emigration will persist for a while particularly in the Public Service.
While in some developing countries, Government do not discourage
such emigration of these trained workers as the supply outstrips the
demand for them, in Fiji where supply is inadequate to meet the
demand in most categories, such emigration should be seen as
deleterious to economic growth.

Grand Strategy: Generate higher levels of graduates from

training and tertiary education institutions than required by
employers in anticipation of losses of qualified manpower
(including graduates themselves) through emigration while at
the same time trying to discourage high levels of emigration.

Strategy 1: Support higher output from tertiary and vocational

training institutions in occupations where there are
skill shortages.

Short term policies are:

o Expand the number of places in tertiary institutions in Fiji to
meet demands in particular occupations.
o Continue the Students Loans Scheme to those pursuing
tertiary level studies and Government to cease financial
support covering operating costs of some tertiary
education/training institutions.
o Continue to provide scholarships to applicants accepted at
tertiary institutions (including those overseas) in fields
identified as experiencing manpower shortages including high-
level manpower.
o Promote a higher level of vocational training in fields for which skill
shortages are being experienced in manual worker occupations.

Strategy 2: Overcome middle-and high-level manpower shortages

in Public Service established positions

Short term policies are:

o Formulate policies on the Right Sizing of the Public Service.
o Improve the incentives structure for officials to remain in
Public Service
o Review the mandatory retirement age for the Public Service
officials.

Strategy 3: Review the allocation of government scholarships in

areas experiencing skill shortages.

b) Government to re-examine the distribution of scholarships,

the cost-sharing scheme and bonding for all Government
scholarships in an effort to recover the cost of investing in
human resources.
 d) Migration of skills
A significant loss to Fiji’s stock of human resources has been
experienced in the last decade and a half, caused by rapid overseas
migration following the political crises of 1987 and 2000. Between
1987 and 2000 Bureau of Statistics data on declared migrants
indicates that almost 60 thousand persons left the country, over 10
thousand of whom were professional, technical and managerial
workers. The vast majority of these highly skilled persons were Indo-
Fijians and they represent a loss of over a quarter of the stock of
professional and technical workers in the country as of 1996. From
declarations made on departure cards, 4,829 persons migrated in
1998, likely a gross under-count as many emigrants would fail to
report their true intentions. In 1999 this figure rose to 4,837 and
jumped by 9% in 2000 to 5275. After the events of May 2000 the
outflow has intensified. In the period September 1999 to January
2000 the total number of declared migrants from Fiji was 2048; for
the period September 2000 to January 2001 the number increased
2325, a rise of almost 14%. Recent statistics from FIBOS revealed
that the total emigrants in 2001 were 6,316, an increase of 19.7%
over 2000. A disproportionate number of these additional migrants
were highly skilled professionals, as the recipient countries make it
more difficult for lesser skilled persons to migrate.

However, it has been reported that 30,000 persons have also taken
up residence in Fiji between 1987 and 1998, which has helped to
offset the much larger gross outflow. In addition work permits and
contracts have been continuously issued to expatriates to do
business and take up various employments in Fiji.

Strategy 1: Discourage emigration and promote immigration of skilled

manpower.
Short term policy:
o Monitoring and Controlling the migration of skills.
o Improve the political and socio-economic climate in Fiji in line
with the objectives of the SDP of Government as the basic
means by which to slow emigration.
o Stipulate repayment to Government on departure of the full amounts of
scholarships and loans extended to those emigrating, based on the
principle of use of scarce public funds for the development of Fiji only.
o Permit immigration of manpower with skills in short supply intending to
become Fiji citizens.
6 POLICY DIRECTIONS
The following are the broad policy directions through which
Vocational Education and Training in Fiji shall be established,
legislated and managed

a) Planning, Management and Administration

Objective: Ensured sustainable, effective and efficient delivery

of
Vocational education and training through prudent and diversified
planning
and management.

Policy Focus Areas:

o An autonomous VET Executive Council (VETEC) to be

established under the Ministry of Education and included
under its legislation

o The membership of VETEC shall be 12 and they shall include

the following: Director TVET (Chairperson), AVT Manager
(Secretary),Ministry of National Planning Chief Planning
Officer, Director General TPAF, Director FIT, CEO FTIB,
Government Statistician, CEO Fiji Employers Federation,
President Fiji Islands Hotel & Tourism Association, President
Fiji Institute of Engineers, Private Provider and NGO to be
appointed by the Minister for Education.

o VETEC members to be remunerated at the standard

government Board sitting allowance level.

o The VETEC shall have a secretariat headed by the Manager

AVT, assisted by an officer at Principal level with two support
staff

o VETEC mandate is to develop and approve broad directions

and strategies of VET in Fiji, scrutinize and approve all
National Qualifications

o VETEC funding to come from either the Grant levy Scheme

controlled by TPAF, 1% of investment fee paid for by
successful investors or budgeted by the government through
the Ministry of Education
o The VETEC to be attached to the Ministry of Education (see
diagram below)
o VETEC will have jurisdiction and authority over all training
programs, certification levels, skills levels,
teacher/lecturer/tutor qualifications, curriculum design &
contents.

Ministry of Education
(Autonomous VET
Executive Council)

Ministry of Labour VET Institutions, Private

(TPAF Industry Providers, NGOs
Training/Apprentice)

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF VETEC IN FIJI

o All pre-service and in-service vocational training shall be

undertaken in autonomous training institutions away from
line ministries and departments

o Current training institutions under line Ministries and

Departments together with their current public funding
shall amalgamate under one or two autonomous tertiary
institutions which shall be expected to generate their own
revenue to supplement the government grant. A transition
period of 5 years at the most shall be given.

o Line Ministries and Departments shall carry out adhoc,

short term training as detailed in 6 (g) below.

b) Labour Market Analysis curriculum and program/

course content and assessment

Objective: Effective and robust labour market information

system that is capable of providing prompt and efficient supply
and demand information for national planning purposes.

Policy Focus Areas:

 o Analysis of all labour market information to be supplied to
VETEC by the Ministry of National Planning on a six monthly
basis

o All training programs & curriculum contents, and training

equipment codes to be sanctioned by the VETEC in line
with the labour market demands.

o Information on new investments be made available to the

VETEC by FTIB on a three monthly basis
o Industry Survey information be made available by the Fiji
Islands Bureau of Statistics (FIBOS) to the VETEC on a six
monthly basis

c) Employment Planning, skills formation and

development and training delivery
Objective: Effective and efficient employment support services to
bolster the performances of workers in the public and private
sectors.

Policy Focus Areas:

o Mandatory requirement of establishing an employment
support services to deliver vocational guidance, career
counseling and coaching etc. at TPAF and FIT and to be
made available to Private Providers at a small fee.

o Mandatory requirement of designating TPAF and FIT to

design training materials for pedagogical and technical
skills to be used by all training providers in Fiji at a nominal
cost.

o All new training materials for pedagogical and technical

training introduced by private providers and NGOs must be
approved by TPAF or FIT with the VETEC’s endorsements.

d) Skills Testing, Assessment and Certification

Objective: Development of a national qualification authority to

monitor certification and accreditation standards up to Advanced
Diploma level.

Policy Focus Areas:

 o Transfer of the TPAF National Qualification Authority to be
under the VETEC

o VETEC to direct the process of cross-crediting various

certificates issued by private providers to the national
standard. (It is assumed that the work of the NQA with TPAF
is completed up to trade certificate-level only)

o All franchised qualifications from training institutions and

providers outside Fiji must first be approved by the VETEC

e) Programs and Institutions Accreditation,

teachers/trainers and training licensing

Objectives: Nationally accredited training provider and trainers.

Policy Focus Area:

o All training providers to be nationally accredited to a

benchmark (on their physical facilities, training
programs and trainers), to be set by VETEC

o All trainers at all levels must possess at least a Diploma

level qualification, from a recognized institution, to be
allowed to teach at any formal training institution where
a certificate of merit is awarded.

o Non-formal program trainers can only conduct short

programs/courses where a certificate of participation is
normally awarded and the training to last not more than
two weeks.

b) Apprenticeship, Work-Study (OJT) and Cadetship

Training

Objectives: Mandatory requirement of apprenticeship training,

OJT or Cadet training for all learners wishing to enter for
employment in the formal public and private sector.

Policy Focus Areas:

o Employers under the TPAF Method A levy scheme be

mandated to hire apprentices of a number to be
 negotiated with TPAF. An incentive tax rebate package
to be negotiated with government.

o Employers with TPAF Method B Levy scheme to employ

at least one apprentice per year and also to be given a
tax rebate incentive to be negotiated with government.

o Mandatory requirement that every worker entering the

workforce in the formal sector must have been an
apprentice or undertaken OJT or cadet training for at
least 12 months.

c) Informal Sector Training

Objective: Diversified community-driven training programs to

maximize the income-generating potential of the community and
assist in the alleviation of poverty

Policy Focus Area:

o Community based training to be decentralized to come

under line ministries and departments of government
according to their core functions.

o Identification of potential income generating activities

and related training needs

o Participation of community in identification, design and

delivery of training

o Line ministries to facilitate the necessary post-training

support services, including credit to ensure that
individual or group can initiate and sustain the income-
generating activity for which training was provided.
d) Funding and Resources

Objectives: Prudent maintenance of funding and resources for

maximum development of institutional capacity to provide
effective training.

Policy Focus Area:

o Percentage of training grant levy with TPAF to be allocated

to FIT and other public training provider to be determined
by VETEC

o Transfer all training funds under line ministries and

departments to the amalgamated vocational schools as in
6 (g) above

o Transfer all government fixed and current assets from line

ministry training institutions to the amalgamated
autonomous vocational schools

o Review relevant legislations and regulations to achieve

above

o NGOs and Private sector providers to access government

funding through the VETEC
 7 APPENDICES
APPENDIX TABLE 1

LABOUR FORCE ENTRANTS AND EMPLOYMENT ABSORPTION

(BOTH SEXES)

2003 - 2007

Avg. Annual, 2003-2007 Total

Components No. Pct. 2003 –

2007
Labour School leavers entering labour force 14,000 81.4 70,000
Force (including from Post Secondary
Entrants Institutions)

Belated entrants into the labour force 600 3.5 3,000

(almost exclusively women)

Laid-off workers seeking re- 2,400 14.0 12,000

employment

Never attended school 200 1.1 1,000

Total 17,200 100.0 86,000

Formal Replacements for emigrating (formal [2,070] [11.7] [10,350]
Sector sector) employed persons.
Employment
Opportunities Replacements for employed persons 2,900 [16.4] [14,500]
leaving formal sector due to normal
attrition
(2.5%xavg. 116,000 employed in year
2000)

New formal sector employment [2,900] [22.6] [14,500]

(2.5% per annum)

Total formal sector 7,870 50.7 39,350

Informal Sector Replacements for employed persons [2,040] [11.5] [10,200]
and cash-crop or leaving informal (non-farming)
mixed cash employment and cash-crop agriculture
crop/subsistence due to normal attrition (1.7%x120,000)
agriculture
Targeted expansion in employment
opportunities to absorb balance of
labour force entrants if nos. [6,960] [37.8] [34,800]
unemployed and those in subsistence
agriculture employment are not to
expand. (5.8% per annum)

Total informal sector and agriculture

9,000 49.3 45,000
Total
Employment 16,870 100.0 84,350
Opportunities
 APPENDIX TABLE 2

School Leavers as Job Seekers, 2001

Males
Level of Education No. of School Pct Economically Nos. Seeking
Leavers Active (Est)(LFPR) Employment

Primary School Classes 1-6 1,335 90.5 1,208

Class 7/Form 1 743 90.5 672

Class 8/Form 2 439 90.5 397

Form 3 929 82.9 770

Form 4 1,257 82.9 1,042

Form 5 536 82.9 444

Form 6 3,640 82.9 3,018

Post Secondary estimate 2,000 79.3 1,586

Total 10,879 [84.3] 9,137

Note:

LFPR for Primary School through Form 2 is that for out-of-school male youth
aged 15-19 with primary school level education as reported by 1996 Population
Census, Table OCC-5M. LFPR for Form 3 through Form 6 is that for out-of-
school males aged 15-19 with secondary school level education as reported by
1996 census in same table. LFPR for post secondary leavers is that for out-of-
school males aged 20-24 with post secondary level education, also as reported
in Table OCC-5M.

Source: Table 1 (for school leavers) and as calculated from provisional 1996
census results, Table OCC-5M.
 APPENDIX TABLE 3

School Leavers as Job-Seekers, 2001

Females

Level of Education No. of School Pct Economically Nos. Seeking

Leavers Active (Est)(LFPR) Employment

Primary School Classes 1-6 797 59.9 477

Class 7/Form 1 450 59.9 270

Class 8/Form 2 596 59.9 357

Form 3 703 44.6 314

Form 4 958 44.6 427

Form 5 480 44.6 214

Form 6 3854 44.6 1,719

Post Secondary est. 2,000 54.1 1,082

Total 9,838 [49.4] 4,860

Note: LPRS are those for out-of-school females, using methodology applied for males in
Table 2, utilising 1996 census data.

Source: Table 1 (for school leavers) and as calculated from provisional 1996 census results,
Table OCC-5F.
 APPENDIX TABLE 4

Distribution of Sampled Employees First Taking Up Employment

Between 1991 and 1997 by Level of Education Completed and
Occupational Group

High Level Prof. & - - - 1 42 8 60 111

Managers
Middle level Prof. &
Technicians - - - 4 140 13 25 182
Clerical Workers - - - 23 501 11 28 563
Sales Workers - 2 2 43 233 2 6 288
Service Workers - - - 25 87 - 1 113
Artisans - - 28 149 217 - 8 402
Garment Workers - - 4 84 58 - - 146
Other Manual Workers - - 6 76 70 - - 152
---------------------------- ------ ------ -------- -------- -------- ---------- ------------ ------
Total - 2 40 405 1348 34 128 1957
---------------------------- ------ ------ -------- -------- -------- ---------- ------------ ------

Pct. distribution of
total 0.0 0.1 2.0 20.7 68.9 1.7 6.6 100.0

Source: William J. House and William H. Bartsch, “Exploring the Dynamics of Fiji’s Formal
Sector Labour Market: Results of the 1997 Employment and Training Survey of
Establishments”(Suva: August 1998), Table 15.

Level of Education Completed

Occupation Group None Class Forms Forms Forms Certificate/ University Total
1-6 1-2 3-5 6-7 Diploma
 8 REFERENCES

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (1990)

Proceeding of Regional Seminar on TVET, Manila, Phillippines
Vocational Education, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Integrated HRD for Employment Promotion, Fiji 1997, Sub-
Program on
Vocational Training, ILO executed program FIJ/97/
Fiji Forest Policy Statement, Fourth Draft July 2007
Strategic Development Plan 2003 – 2005, Rebuilding Confidence
for Stability and Growth for a Peaceful, Prosperous Fiji
National Strategic Human Resource Plan (NSHRP) 2003 – 2007,
Republic of the Fiji Islands, August 2003
Community Based Training for Employment and Income
Generation, Introduction and Overview, Vocational Training Systems
Management Branch, ILO Geneva, International Training Cenre, ILO
Turin.