The University of Fiji is a university based in Saweni, Lautoka, Fiji. It was established in December 2004 under academic leadership of the Fiji Institute of Applied Studies and financial sponsorship of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji, a Hindu religious organization dedicated to education." On 14 February 2016, the Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB) signed a 99-year lease with the university for the 5-hectare property, for which the university paid F$100,000. The university agreed in return to provide two scholarships annually for the children of landowners.[2]
The University of Fiji honoured its first graduates in 2008. Fiji's President Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu, who is also the University's Chancellor, spoke at the graduation ceremony, and commended the university for making it compulsory for all students to follow basic courses in Fijian and Hindi: “Our future depends on our ability and desire to understand each other better, to communicate with each other better, and to assist each other. Being able to communicate in each other’s language is vital for this.”[3] Fijian is the language of the country's majority ethnic group, while Hindi is the main language of the largest ethnic minority.
It includes six "Centres of Excellence", namely a Centre for Indigenous Studies (CIS), a Centre for International and Regional Affairs (CIRA), the Gandhi-Tappoo Centre for Writing, Ethics and Peace Studies (WEPS), a Centre for Diasporic Studies (CDS), a Centre for Gender Research (CGR), and a Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development.[3]
Benefactors include the India-Fiji Festival Committee, which on 16 February 2006 donated F$10,000 to the university for the tertiary education of underprivileged students.
The University of Fiji has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Australia's University of Canberra to foster collaboration in research and facilitate exchanges of staff and students. Vice-Chancellor Rajesh Chandra said on 26 May 2005 that the agreement would effectively link the University of Fiji with international academic networks and would help ensure the quality of instruction.
Future plans and goals
The Fiji Times quoted Professor Chandra on 16 February 2006 as saying that making higher education available to underprivileged communities would lead to equitable development, which would foster social and political stability in the long run.
Professor Chandra announced plans on 6 March to establish a medical school, and said that if donors could be found, the university would set up another campus in the northern island of Vanua Levu. The medical school, to be called the Dr Umanand Prasad School of Medicine, is the brainchild of Dr. Umanand Prasad, a native of Labasa who has invested F$1 million for a medical school in his home country, after thirty years abroad. It has been operational since March 2008.[4]
