A delegation from the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) headquarters in Suva, Fiji visited the Republic of Nauru on 29 January 2016, to provide information on how USP can assist in education development in Nauru.
The USP delegation comprised of the Vice-President (Regional Campuses and Properties and Facilities) Dr Giulio Paunga, Director of Pacific and Further Education (Pacific TAFE), Mr Hasmukh Lal, and Associate Dean (teaching and learning) of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE), Dr Bibhya Sharma.
The visit was a request made by the Minister for Education, Charmaine Scotty, the Government of Nauru.
As part of the trip, the USP delegation met with the President of Nauru, Baron Divavesi Waqa and members of his Cabinet.
During the meeting, President Waqa stressed the importance of training and upskilling human resources as an important undertaking in the Public Service, state owned enterprises and in the private sector.
“We need a skilled workforce to take us into the future and, grow and sustain our economy. We need a workforce with the right skills and right mind-sets to implement quality projects. The Government recognises this and has earmarked funds for in-house training and for longer term scholarships for regional institutions such as USP,” he said.
He added that his Government will strive to deliver more high quality training programmes in future and implement institutional strengthening projects to improve the overall functioning of the Public Service.
President Waqa further requested USP to assist his Government in drafting proposals as required by donors particularly in the area of Climate Change.
The delegation later met with the University’s Nauru campus staff and students, state owned enterprises, officials of the Nauruan government, and members the private sector. They presented on the various courses and programmes offered by USP through FSTE and Pacific TAFE. This session provided an open floor for question and answers regarding the University and an opportunity for the members of the Nauruan community to speak to the team face to face.
They also met with the Australian High Commissioner John Donnely,Deputy High Commissioner Dan Heldon, Taiwan ambassador Joseph Chow, Deputy Counsellor Mr Shau Ann Lee, Nauruan Secretary for Justice Mr Lionel Aingimea, Director of Public Prosecution Mr David Toganivalu and the Registrar of Nauru Supreme Court Mr Filimone Jitoko, as part of their first visit to the small island nation.