The future of Fiji’s workforce is bleak if no investments are made, and actions taken to arrest the student failure rate and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the working age population.
The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation’s (FCEF) concerns follow recent revelations that almost half the students who sat for the Fiji Year 8 Examination this year had failed, and that 64 percent of the 80 percent NCD attributable deaths were occurring within the country’s working age population.
“With this academic situation of our in-school young people, the health situation of our working age population and continued loss of our skilled labour, the availability and productivity of our future labour market is very concerning to employers,” FCEF chief executive Edward Bernard said.
He said tertiary institutions were dependent on absorbing students with basic numerical and literacy skills to then focus on providing students with higher education and vocational skills to ready them for the workforce.
“This academic situation will be a major challenge for tertiary institutions in the short term.”
He said it was imperative that the education system strengthened its teaching and learning process and review the no repeat policy for a favourable outcome for students, tertiary institutions, and ultimately employers.
“To ensure that we have a healthy future workforce, it is imperative for the medical system to invest in preventative care. Focusing more on hospital-based curative care is not effective to ensure a healthy current and future workforce.
“This also concerns employers as not investing adequately in preventative care, according to the recent World Bank report, NCDs is costing Fiji $591m per year and part of employers NTPC levy also pays for doctors for public to access.”
Mr Bernard said they were exploring partnerships with relevant government agencies and development partners to roll out programs to promote healthy and active lifestyles for members and workers at the enterprise level.
The Fiji Year 8 Examination achieved a 69 percent rate this year from the 19,396 students that enrolled into Year 8, up from 67 percent recorded last year; 66 percent — pass rate of students in rural areas, and 71 percent in urban areas.
