Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad emphasizes that the government’s goal for recipients of Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service is to ensure they contribute back to the country.

Speaking on the FBC TV program “Your Voice,” the Finance Minister clarified why the government has decided to implement additional measures for students who intend to work overseas before fulfilling their bonding period.

He states that the new measure, which imposes penalties, is fair because taxpayers fund the tuition fees.

“We don’t want the students to come out of the university and say tomorrow I am going and I am going to pay the bond. We are saying if you want to go, you not only pay the bond for those three years cost but you have to pay another 50 percent penalty and its actually providing an incentive or you might call it descents for people to just leave whenever they want to leave.”

Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad speaking during an interview with FBC TV program Your Voice

According to the Finance Minister, this measure will also strengthen Fiji’s workforce by encouraging students to stay, serve their country before pursuing opportunities abroad.

“It is a fair thing to do because as a country the taxpayers are paying this because we also want to ensure that we have certain skills in the country and that’s how we’ve structured all the different kinds of scholarships.”

He also says the government expects a lot from those who study abroad through taxpayers’ support, so they’ve updated the bonding requirements for them.

“When we send students to go and study overseas to complete programs that are not available or specialty programs that are not available in the local institutions we spend a lot more so we have increased the bond time also so that we get value for money.”

The Finance Minister also emphasizes that if overseas employers are willing to pay the bonds, the government will consider it on a case-by-case basis.

He describes these measures as timely steps to maintain stability in the availability of skills and qualifications within the economy.