University of the South Pacific

The 10-year deal, which will see the Aotearoa contribute $NZ38.5 million to USP's core funding for the first five years, was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni in Suva on Wednesday.

The partnership is expected to support USP's long-term planning and stability as it tries to bounce back from a challenging period after the former Fijian administration cut off its financial contribution to the university.

Professor Ahluwalia and his wife Sandy Price were welcomed by a group of staff and student at Nadi International Airport this morning.

Ahluwalia has been working out of the Samoa Campus in Alafua since March 2022.

This is the first time that they are back in the country since their deportation on 4 February 2021 when the then government claimed Ahluwalia and Price breached conditions of their work permits.

Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, said the government is in talks with USP and hopes to reach an agreement on a repayment plan that will be funded in future budgets in addition to USP’s regular annual grant, which will be reinstated in the 2023-2024 budget.

Rabuka confirmed that there will be no mini-budget this year because funds will be redeployed to meet the government’s immediate priorities.

Rabuka also claimed that the redeployment will also accommodate additional funding requests from ministries and other agencies.

The initiative is focused on all first-year students – local and regional students joining the University in 2023. 

Commencing January 9, future USP students will have the opportunity to experience what tertiary education is like for the next five weeks. 

This one-of-a-kind initiative provides a free online orientation for provisional and potential first-year students to learn more about USP and get a “feel” of university life.

Semester Zero is a timely initiative offered only by USP for her students and will be hosted on USP’s Moodle platform. 

The University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor Pal Ahluwalia said the USP's annual budget has been reduced by $US78 million by Fiji's actions.

But Professor Ahluwalia said a lot of work was being done by the governing council to ensure the university continues to achieve results.

"The question of money Fiji owes is really an issue for the USP Council and how the Council and the leaders of the Pacific deal with that.

The term will commence 1st January 2022 until 31st December 2024.

Dr. Hilda Heine is a renowned Marshallese educator and is no stranger to the University of the South Pacific having served as its 26th Chancellor from 1 July 2019 to 12 January 2020. Dr. Heine was the first female President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands serving from 2016 to 2020.

The government has decided to withhold millions in funding as long as Professor Pal Ahluwalia remained in the job.

The USP staff associations, in an open letter, said that what they call a vendetta has not been seen before in the USP's 52 years.

They said the illegal suspension and subsequent deportation of Professor Ahluwalia has resulted in levels of unity and support for him from students, staff, alumni and communities across the region and the world.

He resumed today for a 3-year term.

He is based at the USP   Samoa Campus.   

Professor Ahluwalia was re-selected to this position by the USP Council. The USP Council had agreed to offer Professor Ahluwalia a new contract following its meeting on 2 June, 2021. 

Before joining the University, Professor Ahluwalia held leadership positions at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom and at the University of South Australia respectively.  

He has a PhD in Politics from Flinders University and a Master and Bachelor of Arts from the 

Second Secretary and Education Attache at the Vanuatu High Commission in Suva, Johnson Vora confirmed that the students have been in isolation at their residence in the Nasese are since last Thursday.

“They are well and our contact with them this morning they are both doing well.  We understand that officials are checking on them and we are confident that they will complete their 14 days isolation and will continue with studies,” Vora said.

The Student Learning Specialist at USP started her initiative early this month and has received a lot of interest.

“I started on Friday 23rd April. 4. I have lost count of how many masks I have made, so I have stopped counting because the demand is high, and students will wait outside as I finish off the quantity they require.”

“Each mask is $2, the masks cost more than that but that's part of my contribution towards their safety. Students cannot afford daily disposable masks, so these ones are well suited,” said Kanas.