At this year’s May graduation ceremony, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University’s Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban, was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition for her contribution to education.

Although she has now stepped down from the role, Luamanuvao served as the university’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Pasifika, for 14 years. In that time has worked tirelessly to raise Pasifika students’ achievement.

“It’s really important that they [Pasifika students] make the most of the opportunities that education has to offer,” she said.

“Secondly, education teaches you how to write, to research, to critique, but more importantly, become an informed voice and considering what’s happening in society now with AI and also technology and social media, it’s really important that we can tell our stories and share our values, and we counter that by receiving a good education and applying ourselves to do well.”

When asked about the importance of service, Luamanuvao explained “there’s a saying in Samoan, ‘o le ala i le pule o le tautua’ so the road to authority and leadership is through service”.

“And we’ve always been taught how important it is not to indulge in our own individual success, but to always become a voice and support our brothers and sisters, and our families and in our communities who are especially struggling.”

As she accepted her honorary doctorate, she spoke about the importance of women taking on leadership roles.

‘Our powerful women’
“Yes, many Pacific people will know how powerful our women are, especially our mothers, our grandmothers, and great grandmothers. We actually come from cultures of very powerful and very strong women . . .  it’s not centered in the individual women. It’s centered on the well-being of our families, and our communities. And that’s what women leadership is all about in the Pacific.”

She did not expect the honourary doctorate from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University because “I’ve always been aspirational for others. And we Pacific people have been brought up that we are the people of the ‘we’ and not the me.”

The number of Pasifika students enrolled at the University, during Luamanuvao’s time as Assistant Vice-Chancellor, increased from 4.70 percent in 2010 to 6.64 pecent in 2024. She said she “would have loved to have doubled that number” so that it was more in line with the number of Pasifika people living in New Zealand.

Two of the initiatives she started, during her time at the University, was the Pasifika Roadshow taking information about university life out to the wider community and the Improving Pasifika Legal Education Project.

Helping Pasifika Law students succeed was very important to her. While Pasifika make up make up only 3 percent of Lawyers, they are overrepresented in the legal system, comprising 12 percent of the prison population.

Another passion of hers was encouraging Pasifika to enter academia. “I think we’ve had an increase in Pacific academics in some areas. For example, with the Faculty of Law, we’ve got two senior Pacific women in lecturer positions . . . We’ve also got four associate professors, and now I’ve finished, there’s also a vacancy for another.”

Prior to her work in education Luamanuvao was the first Pasifika woman to enter New Zealand politics, in 1999.

First Pacific woman MP
“I was fortunate that when I ran for Parliament, I ran first as a list MP, and as you know, within the parties, they have selection process that are quite robust, and so I became the first Pacific woman MP.”

“What motivated me was the car parts factory that closed in Wainuiomata, and most of the workers were men, but they were also Pacific, Māori and palagi, who basically arrived at work one morning and were told the factory was closing.”

“But what really hit me, and hurt me, that these were not the values of Aotearoa. They’re not the values of our Pacific region. These are human beings, and for many men, particularly, to have a job, it’s about providing for your family. It’s about status.

“So, if factories were going to close down, where was the planning to upskill them so they could continue in employment? None of them wanted to go for the unemployment benefit.

“They wanted to continue in paid work. So it’s those milestones that I make it worthwhile. It’s just a pity, because election cycles are three years, and as you know, people will vote how they want to vote, and if there’s a change, all the hard work you’ve put in gets reversed and but fundamentally, I believe that New Zealand and Pacific people have wonderful values that all of us try to live by, and that will continue to feed the light and ensure that people have a choice.”

Although she first entered Parliament as a list MP, she subsequently won the Mana electorate seat. She retained the seat ,for the Labour party, from 2002 until she stepped away from politics in 2010.

During that time she was Minister of Pacific Peoples, 2007-2008, and even though Labour was defeated in the 2008 election, she continued to hold the Mana seat by a comfortable margin.

Mentoring many MPs
Although she has left political life, Luamanuvao has also been involved in mentoring many Pasifika Members of Parliament, and helping them cope with the challenges and opportunities that go with the role.

One of the primary motivators in her life has been the struggles of her parents, who left Samoa in 1954 to build a better future for their children, in New Zealand. She acknowledged that all of her successes can be attributed to her parents and the sacrifices they made.

“Yes, well, I think everybody can look at a genealogy of history of families leaving their homeland to come to Aotearoa, why, to build a better life and opportunities, including education for their children.

“And I often remind our generation of young people now that your parents left their home, for you. And I’ve often reflected because my parents have passed away on the pain of leaving their parents, but there was always this loving generosity in that both my parents were the eldest of huge families.

“They left everything for them, and actually arrived in New Zealand with very little. But there was this determination to succeed.

“Secondly, they are a minority in a country where they’re not the majority, or they are the indigenous people of their country. So also, overcoming those barriers, their hard work, their dreams, but more importantly, the huge love for our communities and fairness and justice was installed in Ken and I my brother, from a very young age, about serving and about giving and about reciprocity.”

Although she has left her role in tertiary education Luamanuvao vows to continue working to support the next generation of Pasifika leaders, in New Zealand and around the Pacific region.

Her lifelong commitment to service, continues as she’s a founding member of The Fale Malae Trust, a group whose vision is to build an internationally significant, landmark Fale Malae on the Wellington waterfront.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Tuvalu Campus, located in the capital Funafuti, is perhaps the smallest university in the world, but it offers a distinctive service.

The nation of Tuvalu comprises nine small atoll islands which have a combined population of just 11,400. The Tuvalu Campus itself is restricted to one small building with three classrooms, a conference room, a couple of office spaces and several mobile teaching and learning units.

Regardless of the size of the campus, USP Tuvalu’s campus director Dr Olikoni Tanaki from Tonga is positive about the university’s role and contribution.

In a message on its website, he argues it is the people that “make this campus distinctive and we continuously strive to explore better ways to provide the best services to our communities, and that sustains our distinctiveness”.

In an interview in Funafuti, Isikeli Naqaya, a student-learning specialist at USP Tuvalu, said: “Every semester, the university caters to about 330 students who come from all nine islands.”

He added that some students were based in outer islands and study online, while the majority were based in Funafuti.

The campus was first established as an extension centre in the early 1980s. It is referred to as USP Tuvalu because of the multi-campus nature of USP.

USP is a single university with 11 branch campuses across the Pacific.

It is one of two regional universities in the world — the other is in the Caribbean — and is owned by 12 Pacific Island countries, with Tuvalu being one of them.

USP’s main campus is located in Suva, Fiji, and is known in the region as Laucala Campus, which is also the university’s administrative centre.

Catering to local needs
Tuvalu Campus is basically a regional centre of USP which helps to deliver courses that are designed at the Laucala Campus.

Local students can take certificate, diploma or degree courses of USP via the Tuvalu Campus but they need to register through the central administration at Laucala. USP Tuvalu also offers short courses and workshops catering to local needs.

“The majority of our students do the online mode, particularly those who are involved in degree courses,” Naqaya said. “A majority of those doing face-to-face [courses] are those who do foundation programmes”.

The foundation programmes include the compulsory module, English language skills for tertiary studies, that is taught in-person by Naqaya.

He explains that there are three delivery methods on campus: if there is a tutor available on campus to deliver the programme, it’s face to face. If there is no tutor, it is usually a blended mode or purely online.

Many of the in-person courses are short courses offered as adult education programmes to improve the skills levels needed for the local economy.

“We have just completed one on business communication with our Department of Fisheries here in Tuvalu. It went on for two weeks. These programmes are very popular here.

“Different government ministries and even non-governmental organisations come to us for this type of programme,” said Naqaya. “We have also delivered a course in the small seafood business.”

Fisheries staff
Most of the students for the small business course were staff of the Tuvalu Fisheries Department. USP Tuvalu advertised the course and staff interested in it sent in their applications which went to Laucala campus for selection.

The certificates for the graduates of the short courses are issued by USP in Fiji.

Because it is a branch campus, for USP Tuvalu to deliver a programme, it has to undergo a process. First, the Fiji campus consults with their Tuvalu counterparts to see whether they have a suitable person to deliver the course.

If there is one, Tuvalu receives the course material from Suva and the course is delivered in Tuvalu.

“If we don’t have the specialised staff, like [for a subject such as] cybercrime, for example, we would have someone to come over and deliver it. We first advertise it locally and if there is someone qualified here to do it, they will come and deliver it,” said Naqaya.

“Many of the small courses I have been delivering.”

School leadership programme
On November 27, USP Tuvalu officially launched the Graduate Certificate of School Leadership (GCSL) programme in Tuvalu, marking a crucial step towards empowering the country’s school leaders.

This is a collaborative effort between the USP’s Institute of Education (IoE), the Tuvalu Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, and the Tuvalu Learning Project. The GCSL programme was developed in response to a request from Tuvalu, and emphasises the collaborative effort required for success.

IoE director Dr Seu’ula Johansson-Fua, delivering the opening remarks at the launch of the GCSL programme, described it as an uncommon instance of a member country seeking university-designed programmes, and highlighted the institution’s commitment to tailoring education to meet the specific needs of member countries.

The guest of honour for the launch ceremony, Director of the Tuvalu Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Neaki Letia, highlighted the necessity of the GCSL programme and acknowledged the challenges faced by school leaders in the absence of proper leadership and management training.

“In your role as school leaders we demand reports, we demand . . . attainments. At one point in time, we sit around the table and ask each other, ‘Have we provided proper training for the tools that we ask them to provide?’ and the answer is ‘No, we have not’,” he said.

“So, this is why we requested USP, especially the Institute of Education, for support — to help us contribute ideas and instil knowledge to be a leader,” he explained.

Local research capacity
Another role of USP Tuvalu is to develop local research capacity, especially in local knowledge to tackle climatic change.

Vasa Saitala, a Tuvaluan, was the community research officer at USP Tuvalu until recently. She told University World News that a campus like Tuvalu is important to unite communities as some Tuvaluans have never been to school.

“There are changes due to climate change and through consultations with communities they would . . .  learn of what’s happening around us,” she said. “We have to do the studies about traditional knowledge and peoples’ awareness of climatic change, etcetera.”

Saitala has conducted a research project on gathering traditional knowledge about local indicators for different seasons and has developed a curriculum for community training on how to use this knowledge to protect against cyclones, droughts and so on. She has also been involved in a regional project of USP that gathers information about community understandings of climatic change issues.

“USP Laucala outsources the research to us. We do the research here and send the reports to Laucala,” she said.

“For short-term fisheries training and also gender issues, people from USP Fiji come here and work with us.”

Kalinga Seneviratne is a journalist, radio broadcaster, television documentary maker, media and international communications analyst. During 2023, he was a journalism programme consultant with The University of the South Pacific. This article was first published by University World News and is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Paediatrician Dr Teuila Percival heads the list of Pacific recipients in the New Zealand King’s Birthday Honours List for 2023.

Dr Percival is one of at least 15 Pasifika people in New Zealand who are on the list. She is to be a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health and the Pacific community.

For the past three decades she has been a strong advocate for Pacific children’s health in New Zealand and the Pacific.

Dr Percival said she felt honoured to get the award after getting over the initial surprise.

“I think it’s important for Pacific people to be recognised in the work they do, so it’s really nice in that respect,” she said.

“It’s just a great job, I love working with kids. I think children are the most important thing.”

Dr Percival was a founding member of South Seas Healthcare, a community health service for Pacific people in Auckland since 1999.

She has also been deployed to Pacific nations after natural disasters like to Samoa in 2009 after the tsunami and to Vanuatu in 2015 following cyclone Pam.

Education
Sacred Heart school counsellor Nua Silipa is to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Pacific education.

Silipa said her experience struggling in the education system after immigrating from Samoa in 1962 had motivated her to help Pacific people in the classroom.

“When I look back now I think my journey was so hard as a minority in Christchurch,” Silipa said.

“It was a struggle because we weren’t in the classroom, the resources at that time were Janet and John . . .  so as a learner I really struggled.”

She said the “whole experience of underachievement” motivated her to help “people who are different in the system”.

“It’s not a one size fits all in education.”

Nua Silipa said she felt humbled to be a recipient on the King’s Birthday Honours List.

She said the award also honoured the people who had been involved in improving education for Pasifika.

“I know there’s so, so many other people who are doing work quietly every day, helping our communities and I’m really in awe of them.

“There are many unsung heroes out in our community doing work for our people.”

Technology
Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities Photo: Supplied

In 1999, she launched Coconut Wireless as an e-newsletter for Pasifika reaching 10,000 subscribers. It relaunched in 2014 as a social media platform and now has over 300,000 Facebook followers.

“There was a disconnect between community and government agencies and there was a disconnect between our communities,” she said.

“There was no communication back then, so I created an e-newsletter.”

The name Coconut Wireless was based on the island concept as a fast way of communicating through word of mouth.

Aue has also been an advocate for more Pacific and Māori learners in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM).

Aue said she was originally going to decline the award as there were a lot of people in the community who do not get recognised behind the scenes.

“I have to thank my family, my friends and the amazing community that we’re all part of.”

Sport
Teremoana Maua-Hodges said she “just about choked” on her cup of tea when she found out she had received the Queen’s Service Medal.

Maua-Hodges has been given the award for her contribution to sport and culture.

She said the award was the work of many people — including her parents — who travelled to New Zealand from the Cook Islands when she was a child.

“I’m very humbled by the award, but it’s not just me,” Maua-Hodges said.

“I stand on the shoulders of different heroes and heroines of our people in the community.

“It’s not my award, it’s our award.”

Maua-Hodges said the most important thing she had done was connect Cook Islanders.

“Uniting Cook Islanders who have come over from different islands in the Cook Islands and then to come here and be united here within their diversity makes me very proud.

“They’ve taken on the whole culture of Aotearoa but still as Cook Islanders . . .  to show their voice, to show their flag, in the land of milk and honey.”

The Queen’s Service Medal will be renamed the King’s Service Medal once the necessary processes are done, and the updated Royal Warrant is approved by King Charles.

Pasifika recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022:

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Dr Teuila Mary Percival — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Nua Semuā Silipa — for services to Pacific education.

Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Meleane Pau’uvale — for services to the Tongan community and education.

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:

Mary Puatuki Aue — for services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Dr Ofanaite Ana Dewes — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Fa’atili Iosua Esera — for services to Pacific education.

Dr Siale Alokihakau Foliaki — for services to mental health and the Pacific community.

Keni Upokotea Moeroa — for services to the Cook Islands community.

Talalelei Senetenari Taufale — for services to Pacific health.

Dr Semisi Pouvalu Taumoepeau — for services to education and tourism.

Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Fa’amoana Ioane Luafutu — for services to arts and the Pacific community.

Queen’s Service Medal:

Joseph Davis — for services to the Fijian community.

Reverend Alofa Ta’ase Lale — for services to the community.

Teremoana Maua-Hodges — for services to sport and culture.

Putiani Upoko — for services to the Pacific community.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A bizarre swinging punch towards an academic from a senior management figure at the top of the University of the South Pacific (USP) is underscoring a deepening crisis in the regional organisation.

While it was not vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia who threw the punch, its plain the one time Fiji deportee is spectacularly failing USP. With falling student roles, and running out of already badly spent money, the once model of regional cooperation and dreams is heading toward a Fiji road smash.

Much of it will have been Professor Ahluwalia’s fault, but inaction on the part of the current pro-chancellor Dr Hilda Heine carries a burden of liability too.

Professor Ahluwalia has gone into a kind of cone of silence, neither calling the “senior management team” (SMT) for several months, nor dealing with urgent issues.

To those inside the Suva campus, the place seems on remote control. Money is disappearing, and the institution is struggling again to pay its bills. Nothing decisive is happening to rescue the organisation founded in 1968.

While tensions between senior academic staff in any university is not unknown, inside USP it has become deeply hostile. Various allegations are made about staff, and the place has descended into a kind of madhouse.

Professor Ahluwalia occasionally issues emails to criticise those who he thinks is bringing him down. He now directs who gets what jobs and where.

Management ‘explosion’
This seems to have been behind an explosion at one of the last SMTs where a top figure is said to have screamed “bastard” and swung a punch at another academic head. Another senior figure had to break it up.

Professor Ahluwalia took no action and the man who swung the punch has been told his place is safe. Consequently Professor Ahluwalia has a new loyalist in SMT.

The latest events at USP have deep political implications in host nation Fiji, where a new government says it is going to pay its USP dues of F$86 million. The previous FijiFirst government led by Voreqe Bainimarama refused to pay, claiming Professor Ahluwalia and other senior figures in USP were corrupt.

Professor Ahluwalia was kicked out of Fiji and took refuge in USP regional offices in Nauru and Samoa.

With Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in power in Suva, Professor Ahluwalia has been allowed back.

It may only be a coincidence, or not, that Bainimarama has subsequently been arrested and faces a charge of abuse of office. The charge specially cites his role over USP.

‘Colonial’ research deal
Now it is emerging that some in USP are party to a research deal with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (signed in Papua New Guinea) that has a decently colonial feel to it, an endorsement of transferring Pacific resources to India.

It is not what universities are supposed to be doing, especially those set up to advance Pacific people.

While Professor Ahluwalia and Dr Heine — former President of the Marshall Islands who in 2016 made history as the first woman leader of a Pacific Islands independent nation — might hope to cope with the new tsunami hitting them, the reality is that the big donors, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the European Union and the United Nations, are going to get pretty weary of this endless, destructive childishness at USP.

Michael Field is an independent journalist and author, and co-editor of The Pacific Newsroom. This article from “On The Wire” is republished with his permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

“The University of the South Pacific (USP) has been and continues to be a bedrock for regionalism. A resource owned by the region; for the region and a precious institution that needs to be protected in line with the vision of our forebearers.”

This was the message by USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia during his speech at the Pacific Education Ministers Conference (CPEM) at Auckland University this week.

The conference theme was “Empowering Education for Pacific People”.

“I am acutely aware that we stand on the shoulders of giants; Pacific leaders who had the prescience of their ancient navigating forbearers, to set up an institution of higher learning and to set it on a course over the horizons in pursuit of two things excellence and equity,” he said.

Professor Ahluwalia said USP graduates had filled critical roles and many had gone on to be leaders across all sectors in their countries.

“This visionary foundation laid down by our Pacific forebearers has made USP the greatest success story of regional cooperation, where the richness of diversity of experiences has formed the foundation of hope and choice; and has established a network for learning to know; learning to do; learning to be; and learning to share,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

The main focus in the early years of USP had been on teacher education to support member governments with their education workforce as they gained their independence, over the years.

Shifts in regional priorities
However, USP had expanded its offerings in response to shifts in regional priorities and needs.

Professor Ahluwalia added that as these regional needs had become more divergent, the prospects of adequately meeting them — “while remaining true to our ongoing commitment to excellence and equity” — had become increasingly become a difficult challenge with diminishing resources.

“I am immensely proud of USP’s achievements and profoundly passionate about the exciting possibilities before us and over our horizons,” he said.

“However, I am under no illusions that we face sizeable challenges and to realise our full potential as a regional university, we need to be at our best to efficiently and effectively teach, learn and research in the service of our regional family.”

Professor Ahluwalia stressed the need to listen to the people as well as stakeholders, valuing relationships and partnerships in new and innovative ways — “and caring for regional communities and natural resources that we haven’t collectively cared enough for”.

“It is our responsibility now to ensure a cohesive articulation of tertiary qualifications across this network that address specific national needs of members of our family, while also pooling resources so that we can do things together where it makes sense to do so.”

Professor Ahluwalia said USP had had to be responsive and resilient and had much more to gain than to lose from genuine innovation.

“We are best positioned to claim leadership in areas no other organisation has the regional mandate, capability, need or courage to pursue,” he added.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A new initiative has been launched in 15 Pacific Island countries to improve educational standards.

The Pacific Regional Inclusive Education Review was launched last week with each country having their own national surveys with the assistance of community groups, NGOs and stakeholders.

It has has been signed by Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Pacific Disability Forum comprises one of the many networks used to complete the survey, and it has roots in 21 countries.

Its main objective is to ensure children, including those living with disabilities, access quality learning.

The Forum’s CEO, Setareki Macanawai, said the review allowed for an understanding of the current issues within education across the region.

“[The purpose is] to have a shared understanding, and I think this is what this review has done. It has provided a lens-key, a good starting point. A good starting point condition for us in the Pacific to then develop a shared understanding of what inclusive education should look like for us in the Pacific.”

Making education accessible
Macanawai also said it was hard to make education accessible in the region due to various pre-conditions.

“There is a lot of stigma, there is a lot of discrimination broadly and generally across the Pacific in the different cultures and societies which is a pre-condition that makes it hard to create an inclusive education for all, particularly those with impairments,” he said.

The review is conducted by UNICEF Pacific and the Pacific Regional Inclusive Education Taskforce.

UNICEF Pacific’s Chief of Education Programme Anna Smeby said the biggest challenge to inclusive education in the Pacific is limited access or children living in poor housing.

“We know that challenges can be in physical access, teaching approaches and availability of extra support, and it can be in the inclusiveness of the environment which means the infrastructure, but also social and emotionally whether it is a welcoming environment,” she said.

“Improving policy for inclusive education, building and strengthening to adapt and differentiate instruction, the resource in classroom so that they have the resources they need and improving school infrastructure, bringing inclusive education leaves us to learn from each other both the shared challenges and the promising practices.

Vulnerable groups
“Vulnerable groups include learners with a disability or some sort of impairment, commonly students in remote places who do not have access to full-cycle schooling and students who have missed earlier learning but also gifted and talented students that need additional support in different ways,” Smeby said.

The collaboration between the 15 countries, regional partners, and the Pacific Inclusive Education Taskforce, supports Sustainable Development Goal 4 to achieve quality education for all and to build a pathway for all children to a productive and healthy adulthood.

UNICEF Pacific’s Deputy Representative Roshni Basu said countries needed to include the review’s recommendations into its policies urgently.

“UNICEF is committed to ensure that all children of our Pacific shores are able to enjoy their right to inclusive, and of course quality, education.

I urge all countries to maximise effort and commitment to translate the review findings into concrete investments for inclusive education.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji government has refused to pay its grant since 2019 and did not allocate funding for its USP grant in the latest national budget.

Professor Pal Ahluwalia said the university had been able to keep operations going by prioritising spending, and cutting back on certain areas, like maintenance.

“The impact of not getting these grants from Fiji has been extensive on our students,” he said.

The university is a regional institution with 12 member countries paying grants based on the number of students attending.

Professor Ahluwalia said other member countries have been paying their contributions and are committed to keeping its operations going.

No sign Fiji government will pay up
RNZ Pacific reports that the Fijian government has no intention of paying the money it owes to USP.

In the Bainimarama government’s Budget estimates, no money has been allocated to the USP for third year after after it failed to get its way over the removal of the Professor Ahluwalia.

The debt is now estimated to be more than F$80 million (NZ$50 million) dollars.

This comes at a time when the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), chaired by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, stressed at its summit the importance of regionalism.

The regional university, perhaps the best expression of this regionalism, is seen to be under threat because Fiji — the main beneficiary — is not paying its way.

Last year the two staff associations at the USP accused the Fiji government of conducting a vendetta against the Professor Ahluwalia by withholding the funding.

Staff at USP allege the Fiji government is still conducting a vendetta against the vice chancellor.

Ethical principles
The staff associations said that this was testimony to the ethical principles and good governance that Professor Ahluwalia had championed.

Other tertiary institutions in Fiji are set to receive substantial grants from the government.

According to The Fiji Times, the Fiji government’s budget estimates revealed eight higher education institutions had been allocated $48.9 million in the 2022-2023 Budget.

Grants will be given to University of Fiji ($2.3 million), Fiji National University ($45 million), Corpus Christi ($94,236), Fulton College ($103,918); Monfort Technical Institute ($338,912), Monfort Boys Town ($492,212), Sangam Institute of Technology ($114,411) and Vivekananda Technical Centre ($128,196).

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The University of the South Pacific’s latest international ranking is a “testament to the excellence” that pervades the university, says USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

He said this in a statement confirming USP had been ranked 401-600 out of 1406 institutions, with an overall score of 70 out of 100 in The Times Higher Education (THE) impact ranking for 2022.

“It is recognition of the sheer hard work and determination of our researchers,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

“It reaffirms USP’s standing as the premier education institution in the region and this ranking is a testament to the excellence that pervades our university.”

The impact ranking is the only global performance table that assesses universities against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where indicators are carefully calibrated to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across four broad areas — research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

USP scored over 50 (out of 100) in research for SDGs 4, 13, 14, 16 and 17, reflecting the quality and relevance of its publications to the SDGs.

Under SDG four, USP scored highly at over 80 on Lifelong Learning Measures, which highlights lifelong learning opportunities through the provision of public resources, public events, vocational training events, education outreach activities beyond campus, and the existence of policy to ensure access to lifelong learning.

Environmental measures
Under SDG seven, USP scored high, over 70 on Energy Use Density, which is the energy used per floor space of university buildings in 2019.

Under SDG 13, USP scored 100 for Environmental Education Measures that demonstrate activities around local education projects and collaborations on climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation, including disaster planning reflecting the engagement and collaboration by the university on climate change action locally, regionally and internationally.

USP scored highly at 75 under SDG 14 for Supporting Aquatic Ecosystems Through Action, which includes work on maintaining ecosystems and their biodiversity and over 85 for Local Ecosystem Maintenance.

For University Governance Measures, Working with Government, such as the provision of expert advice to government and participation in government research, and Percentage of Graduates in Law and Civil Enforcement-related courses under SDG 16, USP scored almost 80, 85 and over 75, respectively.

Finally, under SDG 17, which is considered the mandatory SDG, USP scored 100 percent for Relationships to Support the Goals, reflecting USP’s relationships with regional NGOs and international collaborations for SDGs.

The timeframe for data collection for the impact ranking 2022 spanned from January to December 2020 and in some cases, 2019, due to disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The son of a factory worker made New Zealand history last week, as the first Pacific person to be appointed to the eminent leadership position in academia at a New Zealand university.

“I’m really excited to be the AUT vice-chancellor and with that excitement comes a sense of its significance with the sector which I work in and have given much of my life to, actually looking like the people it serves. So I’m really excited to be part of that story,” Toelesulusulu told Asia-Pacific Report.

“AUT is a place where talent can find opportunity and I would hope that lots of other people would want to express that excitement by wanting to come to AUT,” he says.

“What matters more is the work of the whole institution, that the university itself embraces its many different communities, its Māori students, its Pacific students and already AUT is a little bit known for that and what we can do is to build even more deeply on that.”

Professor Steven Ratuva, director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury, says Dr Salesa’s appointment is a significant milestone for the Pacific.

“It is something he richly deserves, and he has been working hard for and it is a good career choice, it is good for the Pacific academic community, and I congratulate him for his contribution to Pacific education.”

South Auckland priority
Currently pro-vice-chancellor Pacific at the University of Auckland (UOA), Dr Salesa takes up his new role as vice-chancellor at AUT in March.

From just up the hill at UOA, he has observed AUT, and likes what he saw.

“I’ve really admired the way AUT prioritised and served its students, particularly the students of South Auckland and mature students, and that is one of reasons I was really interested in the job,” he says.

“Just because those communities of learners for whom education really matters, AUT has really embraced them and that is part of what is exciting about AUT — that is why I wanted to come across and join AUT.

“There is no question that the campus down south and campus on the shore bring universities into the communities that they serve and as well as being global institutions they are local institutions.

“If you have heart to service and you keep the students at the very centre of the decisions you make, you get great results like you see AUT deliver in South Auckland and the North Shore,” he says.

Strengthening Māori and Pacific research
Pacific and Māori research is one area he wants to strengthen as well as build relationships with other institutions in the Pacific.

“Certainly, one of the things I have as a priority is to make sure that AUT is in all of the partnerships that it needs to be in, that we are serving our communities and our partners as well in a reciprocal relationship from which everyone grows.

“That will mean we have to be a little bit selective, but it will also mean that Pacific partnerships and other partnerships are critical to the very centre of the university, and they are not seen as being marginal because we’re a university in the middle of the South Pacific.

“We need to honour that and be connected to our whanau around the Pacific.

“It is absolutely important that we are having those conversations, we need to understand how we can support the University of the South Pacific (USP) and their work, how we can find benefit and value for New Zealand and AUT students and staff from those relationships, so certainly we will be taking that seriously.

“But certainly, USP is a special institution in our region, so we need to be strategic in how we support and partner with them.”

Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of journalism at USP, says “as many have pointed out, the appointment is well deserved. He was not given any preference as a Pacific Islander. He was picked on merit.

A Pacific ‘trailblazer’
“As a trailblazer, he will inspire many Pacific Islanders and Pacific people beyond New Zealand as the vice-chancellor of one of the finest universities in our region.

“Through my association with the Pacific Media Centre (PMC), I have participated in AUT journalism-related workshops, seminars, and conferences.

“I have a high regard for the AUT and the PMC, long a flagship of the university for its cutting-edge research and publications in Pacific journalism.

“I hope the PMC is revived as journalism in the region has been struggling due to economic and political factors. Pacific journalism needs support and leadership and AUT can become the beacon it was,” Associate Professor Singh says.

Dr Salesa was in the dark about the PMC which has now been in hiatus for almost a year for unknown reasons.

“I’d have to learn more about that, I don’t know the ins and outs of that situation, but these are things that have to be collaborative, they have to be built with the kind of collective will and expertise of the university especially.

“There is no question that AUT will be prioritising Māori research and Pacific research among its other amazing specialisations,” Dr Salesa says.

AUT ‘anchored in Pacific’
“AUT will always be anchored in the Pacific region and obviously has a long history of educating people from the Pacific region and we hope to continue and deepen that.

“Those partnerships will speak directly to AUT’s future, and this is a period in time where everyone is just hoping for the best possible outcome for USP, and we will be looking to support in ways that make sense for them and AUT.”

Dr Salesa is testament to the fact that people of a Pacific background or ethnicity can succeed and excel — not just in sport, but in every facet of society.

“I think we’ve always known, as the saying goes, talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t — and what AUT is the story of, is making opportunity available to diverse groups of talented people.

“We know if you make opportunities available to those who have been denied them, they will flourish if they are supported in the right way.

“I have no doubt what people will see in my own story is that the kinds of diverse talent we have in New Zealand that too often we haven’t made the most of, can come to AUT and thrive.

“I hope that people see in that all kinds of stories because I am also the son of a factory worker, and I am also a first-generation university attendee people can understand that when talent gets opportunity and support it drives them and that’s what I am hoping you’ll see and that is what success at AUT is all about and its story,” the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes-raised Dr Salesa says.

Education pathway
A strong advocate for education, he wanted young Māori and Pasifika people to pursue that pathway rather than young school leavers joining the workforce.

“We know that education is one of the proven pathways to wellbeing and prosperity for families, and that at the same time we know that many families need their young people to go out and work.

“So, it is absolutely critical that we find ways to get talented young Pacific, Māori and other students into high value employment and education is one of the ways of doing that.

“What we need is for them to be ambitious, to have high expectations of themselves and their families and it is for AUT and other universities to deliver that transformational learning which is the secret to those strong and prosperous futures,” Dr Salesa says.

Transformative learning allowed people to change and have more than one career.

“We know all of us are living in the most uncertain and highly changeable times. In the old days everyone imagined they would have just one career and many people now are realising they might not only change jobs but change careers and they have also come to realise that in many, many of our jobs technology sits at the centre of opportunity and the ability to be effective.

“AUT is the kind of institution that is built for these times, it offers all sorts of flexible learning offerings and a truly diverse student body and it is New Zealand’s tech university.

Transformative learning
“So transformative learning is the kind of learning that actually transforms individual students lives where you can see outcomes writ large and that’s what I’m hoping to support further development at AUT so that people understand AUT is a great place to go, to study and get a great job but also prepare themselves for a great future,” Dr Salesa says.

Then there was the inevitable vexed question, whether it was time for another university, namely AUT, to start a new medical school? To which he played with a straight bat.

“At the moment AUT is one of the great providers of the health workforce in New Zealand and certainly for the short term we will be focusing on doing an even better job of doing that.

“Delivering a health workforce and the health researchers that New Zealand needs. That is obviously a critical contribution in the age of the pandemic, but again that will be built collaboratively with my colleagues at AUT.

“I think it is a very challenging time for universities across the board and particularly where next year is going to be where students have had two years of lockdown learning in Auckland so we have to make sure that the university can support them in their ambitions to be successful at AUT.

“That is going to be one of the great challenges, not just facing AUT, but all the tertiary providers that have suffered lockdowns in Auckland.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The new vice-chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology is calling on young Pasifika peoples pursuing their education to stay the course.

Toeolesulusulu Dr Damon Salesa, who is currently a pro vice-chancellor at the University of Auckland takes up his new role at AUT in March.

He is the first person of Pacific descent to head a university in New Zealand.

Toeolesulusulu said the past two years of the covid-19 pandemic have been the most difficult for education in a long time.

He said part of the reason he chose to take up the new role was that AUT provides a pathway to education for people of all ages, backgrounds and races, regardless of the life stage or academic credentials.

“The pressures of the pandemic have forced many young people to have to choose between furthering their education or providing for their families, and institutions like AUT can help.

“Now is a great time to just leave school and get a job,” Toeolesulusulu said.

“But in terms of the future that students’ families need, that our city and our communities need, education still remains the single most powerful way to transform the lives of you and your family and through them our communities.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific scholar and senior university sector leader Toeolesulusulu Dr Damon Salesa has been appointed as the next vice-chancellor of Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland University of Technology (AUT), AUT News reports.

The appointment by the University Council at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau AUT was announced today and is the result of a global search after current vice-chancellor Derek McCormack announced his retirement in March 2022 after 18 years at the helm.

Toeolesulusulu is a prizewinning historian and former Rhodes Scholar. After obtaining his MA with first class honours at the University of Auckland, he completed his doctoral studies at Oxford University.

He is the author and editor of many books and academic articles including Island Time: New Zealand’s Pacific Futures (BWB, 2017) and Racial Crossings (Oxford University Press, 2011) which won the international Ernest Scott Prize in 2012. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and currently serves on their council.

“For 20 years AUT has been the most remarkable story in Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary education, showing how the pursuit of excellence can be set on a foundation of service, inclusion and close relationships with our communities, businesses and stakeholders,” said Toeolesulusulu.

“AUT is New Zealand’s tech university, a pacesetter in the social, educational and economic transformation in Aotearoa New Zealand. I am excited by the opportunity to lead AUT on the next leg of its journey of excellence, Te Tiriti partnership, equity and service to our city, nation, region and the world.”

His current role is as pro vice-chancellor Pacific at the University of Auckland where he also serves on the executive committee tasked with the strategic leadership and governance of the organisation.

Pacific programme in US
Toeolesulusulu has also served as co-head of Te Wānanga o Waipapa (School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies) at the University of Auckland and previously worked at the University of Michigan for 10 years, including in roles as director of the Asian Pacific Islander American Studies Programme and as an associate professor in the History Department and Programme in American Culture.

An Aucklander, Toeolesulusulu was born and bred in Glen Innes, the son of a factory worker from Samoa and a nurse from the Far North. He is married with two teenage daughters.

Toeolesulusulu retains strong connections to many of Auckland’s communities, especially in South Auckland. He has been an innovator at the interface between schools and universities and has been an important leader and supporter of the work of schools, in pedagogy, curriculum and governance.

AUT chancellor Rob Campbell said the council was looking forward to welcoming Toeolesulusulu Dr Salesa to AUT next year.

“We are impressed by Damon’s vision of the critical contribution AUT can make to Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific through quality research and teaching, and the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi throughout the work of the university,” he said.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A public relations disaster for Fiji just as Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum head to Glasgow for COP26 as one of Britain’s leading media outlets — The Independent — carries out a detailed investigation into events at the University of the South Pacific.

Fiji’s reputation in Britain and the academic community the world over has suffered a grievous blow.

What emerges is a sordid tale of cronyism, bullying, repression and a frontal assault on regional cooperation by the FijiFirst government that has undermined Pacific solidarity and adversely affected the education of ordinary Pacific Islanders at USP, including Fijian young people.

The length and scope of this article and its impeccable pedigree guarantee that it will become the dominant global narrative about events at USP and have a far reaching impact on Fiji’s reputation, including its current role as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum.

And for what? For Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s ego.

A festering wound that will cripple the FijiFirst government all the way to the 2022 election, when its prized “youth vote” will get to make its own pronouncement at the ballot box on events at USP.

Be genuinely dismayed at the AG’s shortsightedness and Bainimarama’s stupidity for allowing his number 2 to embark on a battle he simply cannot win.

This is what The Independent describes as a “long read”:

“At first there is a woman’s voice coming from the back of the house in the dead of night. Then there is repeated ringing of the doorbell. Other voices, male ones, are coming through the front door now; the voices are authoritative and increasingly impatient. Instructions are barked, telling those inside to open up. Fists bang the door. Soon plainclothes police officers are inside and shortly afterwards 63-year-old Professor Pal Ahluwalia and his wife Sandy Price are forcibly escorted to the airport. The vice-chancellor of the most prestigious university in Fiji is being deported on the orders of the Fijian government.

“The University of the South Pacific (USP) is pretty. Its main campus building in Fiji has a clean, modern design and is fronted by rows of palm trees. But behind the attractive facade and beneath a clear blue South Pacific sky, all hell is breaking loose. An internecine conflict has broken out. On one side stands the vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who claims to have blown the whistle on mismanagement and malpractice at the university; opposing him are pro-chancellor Winston Thompson and the Fijian government, who say Ahluwalia is guilty of both breaking USP hiring protocols and of unspecified immigration violations.”

Read on at The Independent or if you want to dodge the paywall, read here.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The challenges experienced by Tongan students having to study overseas will soon be over after the government has announced plans for the establishment of the kingdom’s first national university.

The news has been hailed as a solution to the financial, social and mental stresses Tonga’s international students have faced.

The kingdom’s Parliament is expected to process a bill which set out the details of the university later this week. The public had until yesterday to make submissions on the Tonga University Bill 2021.

The university is expected to unite various institutions, including the Tonga Institute of Education, Tonga Institute of Higher Education, Tonga Institute of Science and Technology, Tonga Maritime Polytech Institute, Queen Salote Institute of Nursing and Allied Health, as well as the Tonga Police College.

It will offer academic, technical and vocational programmes and qualifications from certificate to post-doctorate level.

Former Tongan MP and government teacher Lepolo Taunisila said the proposal had been in the pipeline for a while and involved previous governments and education ministers such as the late Dr Hu’akavameiliku and Dr ‘Ana Taufe’ulungaki.

It had been “absolutely long overdue”, Taunisila said.

‘Frustrating challenges’
A former student at the University of the South Pacific (USP), Fīnau Leone, said the move could help resolve the problems he and other Tongan students had encountered in the past.

Leone said he faced “frustrating challenges” studying in Fiji.

He said his family struggled to pay for his studies because he did not have a scholarship.

His parents could sometimes only afford to pay for his school fees and not for his shopping and living costs.

“I have no choice but to use all that money to pay for my school fees and begged for food from other Tongan students at USP and also asked them for a space to sleep in their apartment.

“Leaving home for the first time to stay with different people from various ethnicities were challenging, especially as I was just finishing from high school,” he said.

Leone said he still remembers an incident in which one of his best Tongan friends at USP was killed in Fiji while they were on a night out.

Tonga is one of 12 Pacific Island countries which fund USP.

Two private universities currently operate in the kingdom – ‘Atenisi University and Christ’s University in Pacific.

This article by Kaniva Tonga editor Kalino Lātū was first published by Te Waha Nui and is republished here as part of our collaboration with Kaniva Tonga.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji government has denied allegations being levelled against it of trying to “nationalise” the 12-nation University of the South Pacific, describing the claims as “baseless”.

Fiji Minister of Education Rosy Akbar was responding to accusations made by some Pacific countries and individuals that Fiji was too heavily involved in this week’s suspension of vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia pending an investigation.

Fiji hosts the main Laucala campus of the regional university.

READ MORE: Albert Schram on Pacific university governance and academic freedom

A USP executive committee which met earlier this week had decided that the allegations against Professor Ahluwalia need to be “looked into”.

This arises from a report compiled by the chair of the risk and audit committee, Mahmood Khan, listing numerous incidents of alleged breaches by the USP vice-chancellor, Professor Pal.

Akbar said Fiji wanted to ensure that USP students – including those from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Nauru and other countries – did not fall victim to issues created by bad governance.

She said a large number of complaints against the vice-chancellor had been brought to the attention of the USP audit team prompting the investigation, adding the quantity and nature of the complaints were very serious and could not be ignored.

Concerned about governance
Akbar added that the Fiji government was concerned about governance issues at the university in light of a number of anomalies found by the USP audit team and wanted the issues resolved quickly.

The minister said the government remained concerned about USP, which continued to be “distracted from its core function” of delivering quality teaching and education needed by Pacific countries to build strong economies and prosper.

As a threat of students boycotting classes and exams continued, Akbar said students needed to remain focused on what was most important – their education.

She said that Fiji, as the host country with the largest number of enrolled students, and by far the largest contributor from the Pacific member countries, would like to see the matters resolved “efficaciously” through the internal mechanisms of the university.

Akbar said it was clear there was a need to address the “governance anomalies” which had disrupted transparency at the university.

The Fiji minister goes on to say that a university is a place of learning and office holders must set an example to students, the future leaders, that any breach of rules would be investigated using the proper channels with action taken if and as appropriate.

However, Pacific Media Watch reports that the incoming chancellor of the university, President Lionel Aingimea of Nauru, a law graduate from USP, had on Tuesday accused a small Fiji group, including pro-chancellor Winston Thompson, a retired former Fiji diplomat, of “hijacking” the university and waging a vendetta against Professor Ahluwalia.

He also said the future of the university was in “jeopardy” and he had called for an urgent special meeting of the full USP Council.

Other critics of the Fiji government’s actions over the university have also called for the meeting.

Staff and students in support of Professor Ahluwalia, who is widely seen as a reformer, have held protests at Laucala and other USP campuses around the Pacific.

The Fiji Times today splashed the Nauru president’s “hijack” claim on the front page.

Yesterday, independent journalist Michael Field revealed allegations in a secret BDO consultancy report that has detailed alleged funding abuses prior to Professor Ahluwalia’s appointment in late 2018.

He reported that some academics and staff at USP’s Laucala campus “have been paying themselves millions of dollars in salaries and allowances they may not have been entitled to”.

Lena Reece is a multimedia journalist with FBC News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

This article attempts to put the current governance crisis at the Fiji-based University of the South Pacific (USP), one of only two regional universities in the world, in a broader regional perspective. If Pacific regional integration and coordination means anything, then this would be a good moment to demonstrate it values academic freedom and institutional autonomy and good governance at the regions’ universities. The author, former vice-chancellor of the University of Technology in Papua New Guinea, revisits a study he did in 2014 about the PNG university system published in USP’s Journal of Pacific Studies [Schram, 2014].

During the last weeks, after reports emerged about gross mismanagement and breaches of the rules of the university at USP under the former administration, this week the Executive Committee of the University Council decided to suspend the current vice-chancellor for alleged “misconduct and breach of rules and procedures”, despite all the evidence pointed in the opposite direction of the former administration and some council members.

The current vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, is a reputable academic with an impressive track record as a scholar, as well as an executive experience as deputy vice-chancellor at one of the better universities in the United Kingdom. During his long and distinguished career, he developed specific technical expertise in innovation and research policies which are highly needed in the region.

First principles of university governance
Although there are many different university governance systems for universities, it is generally agreed that academic freedom and a degree of autonomy, like a free and independent press, are essential for a democracy to function properly. There are two channels in which dirty politics, special or personal interests can seep into the texture of universities: one way is by political parties using student politics, and the other way is through the university councils. Often we see a bit of both.

University autonomy is not absolute and has several dimensions, which is why the European University Association, for example, publishes an annual scoreboard on university autonomy.

Organisations like Scholars at Risk monitor threats to individual scholars and academic freedom. In case of serious incidents various human rights reporting mechanisms are used. The price of liberty after all is eternal vigilance, as Thomas Jefferson allegedly said.

In the Pacific, the university system is usually based on the Australian system which favours strong university autonomy independence. This regularly clashes with tendencies of Pacific governments which see university as government departments and want control over all appointments and budgets.

Since universities are statutory organisations and are established by an act of parliament, governments shirk away from abolishing university autonomy de jure, rather than use a number of de facto mechanisms.

As professional international university executives, we add value by bringing our experience from world-class universities in how to get things done, how to access external funding and generate internal funding, and through our professional networks.

This type of know-how and experience is usually hardly available locally.

As vice-chancellor of the PNGUoT, for example, when I enjoyed Council’s support from 2014 to early 2017, I was able to take big strides forward in establishing good governance, effective and efficient management, while at the same time create productive partnerships with industry, mobilise international support, and push the digitalisation, accreditation and academic quality agendas.

When, however, foreign university executives are continually exposed to unwarranted attacks, often fuelled by a deadly mixture of envy, xenophobia, or fear to lose face, we cannot do our jobs. The education of the next generation of Pacific leaders suffers as a result.

The end of university autonomy in PNG
University autonomy in PNG ended during the Peter O’Neill years with the Higher Education Act 2014 which had as the only purpose for the government to gain control over the universities.

Article 109 stipulated the direct appointment of the chancellor and for the vice-chancellor made the government of PNG the appointing authority. Before this Act was gazetted I warned the then Minister of Higher Education, asking him to scrap article 109, to no avail.

As co-chair of the PNG Committee of Vice-chancellors and University Presidents, I was seriously concerned about this type of backsliding.

From 2012 to 2018 there were no less than seven Ministers of Higher Education, which did not help to create good governance.

In 2016, the students of the University of Papua New Guinea in the capital Port Moresby, and the students of the PNGUoT in Lae demanded then Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to submit himself to questioning after credible and serious allegations for corruption had been made.

Peter O’Neill flatly refused and exactly one year ago allowed police to shoot hundreds of rounds peacefully protesting students. An investigation was promised but never occurred, despite my reminder in an interview for ABC Pacific Beat.

At the PNGUoT in Lae the students’ response was immediate but quick thinking by the Metropolitan Superintendent Anthony Wagambie and our mediation, we were able to contain the situation on campus. The threat to the students and the universities was loud and clear.

The prolonged university crisis of 2016, however, resulted in the council being replaced by Peter O’Neill’s appointees and the student representative councils being suspended for an indeterminate period. After the “stolen elections” of 2017, the allegiance of university council members and staff started to shift, since they were all expecting O’Neill to stay on until the next elections in 2022.

Oddly, O’Neill was pushed out of a role in government and resigned as Prime Minister in May 2019. With his Australian friends, O’Neill who likes to boast and dream of becoming the “first Pacific billionaire”, spend most of his time in his own $55 million mansion in Sydney, or at his son’s place, a “modest” $13 million mansion in the same town, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

When he returned to avoid being thrown out of Parliament last month, he was arrested to respond to allegations for one of the many grand corruption cases and put in a two weeks quarantine. Hopefully, the police are able to produce a proper indictment this time, which can stand up in court to get a conviction.

With O’Neill’s ousting as Prime Minister, university chancellors and council members are now no longer politically protected and feel exposed, which surely in 2021 and 2022 – an election year – will cause more political mayhem in PNG university governance.

Pacific universities case studies
PNG 2013 and 2018: PNG University of Technology (PNGUoT)

In 2013, while in exile in Australia after my first run-in with the Peter O’Neill government, I wrote an article about the importance for universities in Papua New Guinea of establishing good governance and mainstreaming implementation of concrete strategic plans using various proven methods [Schram, 2014].

Later I gave a seminar at the Australia National University where I warned that the PNG university governance reform was failing.

In 2012, I was attracted to the vice-chancellor role of the PNG University of Technology (PNGUoT) because the government had promised to modernise its governance in the wake of the Independent Review of the PNG University System (IRUS, also called the Namaliu-Garnaut Report), and make a considerable investment in the structurally underfunded PNG education system from revenue of the LNG project.

Professor Garnaut, interestingly, was later also declared persona non grata by Peter O’Neill and prevented to enter the country, like so many other foreign professionals during the disastrous O’Neill years.

The review made clear that at the PNGUoT an internationalisation and academic quality agenda had to be pursued vigorously, and the university’s reputation had to be restored with all stakeholders after the official investigation in 2013 led by the late Supreme Court judge Mark Sevua had shown a widespread practice of mismanagement of funds and breaches of due process by the University Council.

In April 2014, a new council had been appointed, and I was called back to lead the university. In 2016, my term was renewed after a performance review. Nevertheless, in 2018 the PNGUoT gave in to political pressure and the witchhunt against the foreigner started again, based on the same baseless allegations as in 2012-13 of not having a doctorate which had already been disproven by an official investigation. Madness.

For those willing to check, here is the official record of my doctorate which I proudly defended on 24 November 1994 at the renowned European University Institute in Florence (Italy), and later published with Cambridge University Press.

My doctorate is explicitly recognised in all EU member states, the USA and Costa Rica.

During the PNGUoT crisis in 2013 as well as in 2018, the support in my regard of Scholars at Risk in New York and the academics at Australian National University, and several journalists knowledgeable about PNG affairs was unfaltering, and I am grateful for that.

Now that in PNG Peter O’Neill has finally been arrested and apparently finally needs to answer the serious and credible allegations, it seems there may be another opportunity for university reform.

His government created fantastic levels of corruption, and the non-resource growth of the economy diminished year upon year between 2012 and 2017.

Each year, the PNG government in order to stay afloat borrowed at unfavourable conditions, massively increasing public debt, and bringing the country close to bankruptcy and threatening debt default.

Needless to say, the promised additional university investment never materialised, and I could only use internal savings to make necessary investments. The PNG Australia relationship meanwhile had been poisoned by the Manus Refugee Camp, where asylum seekers were held unlawfully for years.

PNG 2018: University of Natural Resources and the Environment (UNRE)
In an effort to modernise university leadership in PNG, in 2015 the British professor John Warren was appointed as vice-chancellor of UNRE. VC Warren and I immediately coordinated our strategies in line with the declared government policy following the IRUS (Namaliu/Garnaut) report.

As co-chair of the PNG VC Committee, I attended their graduations and met all their council members.

After working with council to establish accountability and governance processes, we vigorously worked on an academic quality and internationalisation agenda. The advice of other Vice-Chancellors in the Pacific region and Australia to first establish proper financial management, and balance the budget was valuable.

In fact, the savings obtained by stopping wastage, and establishing proper financial control could immediately be invested in improving the learning and working environment on campus, something that both PNGUoT and UNRE desperately needed.

At UNRE the challenge to establish reliable broadband internet remained great, which seriously affected their operations and the ability to attract and retain faculty members.

VC Warren worked with the Academic Board (Senate) and the University Council to establish proper appointment and promotion procedures for academics, as well as robust assessment or exam policies. At this point, VC Warren was attacked, even physically, by members of the AB who felt embarrassed they could not explain how grades were produced.

They went immediately over the head of council and started to spread lies and rumours among members of the Peter O’Neill government, which gullible as they were, were taken for true. As a result, Peter O’Neill decided to appoint a new chancellor, who however escalated the attacks on VC Warren.

Things quickly got really nasty and dangerous.

At this point, the pressure on foreign vice-chancellors in the country mounted to dance to the tunes of the O’Neill regime. First, in April 2018 I was pushed out and despite reaching an agreement with council, I was arrested when trying to return home at Jackson’s International Airport in Port Moresby.

The police which presented no evidence and was acting directly on orders of Peter O’Neill through the ousted Pro-Chancellor Ralph Saulep, managed to keep me hostage unlawfully retaining my passport for one month, after which a judge in the National Court granted me permission to go home.

The whole sad episode was described on ANU’s Development Policy blog, and several articles in The Times Higher Education (1 and 2) and The Australian (1 and 2) and other international press in Italy and the UK, thus tarnishing the reputation of the country and its universities.

Less than one month later the other foreign vice-chancellor, John Warren, was threatened and had to flee for his life.

At the end of 2017, University Council members had shifted their alliance after O’Neill successfully stole the 2017 elections, with full support from the Australian government at the time.

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, for instance, declared the 2017 “successful” before they were even finished, and while serious elections violence was ongoing in several highland provinces.

Fiji 2020: The University of the South Pacific (USP)
The crisis situation at USP is still ongoing, and I know the political background and personalities more superficially. As co-chair of the Pacific Islands University Network, which we set up in 2012, I visited USP regularly which hosted the secretariat of the network.

When he took over last year, vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia asked council to be consulted over senior appointments, so as to be able to appoint his own independent executive team. He was denied this common courtesy.

Subsequently, he reported to council about lack of accountability and various breaches of university rules involving the appointment or renewal of various university administrators. This seems to have set off the current crisis with the Executive Committee (EC) of council suspending him for supposed misconduct without, however, having any primary evidence.

Rather, all evidence presented points to mismanagement by members of the previous administration and current council.

In his report to the Executive Committe, VC Pal writes the following:

“EC receives this report and takes urgent action both internally and externally. It is incumbent upon USP to be critically aware of its fiduciary and legal duties and responsibilities, especially in regards to donors and authorities that demand transparent and accountable management in the disbursement of public funds. It is further recommended that EC take corrective actions with the highest priority accorded to these matters.”

He then describes a long list of irregular appointments, which in some cases led to excessive expenses, and in all cases have constrained his ability to lead the university effectively.

Fortunately, support for “VC Pal” is strong and solid, and we hope that this becomes clear to all the council members and they lift his suspension after the next council meeting. The episode however in a regional perspective leaves a bad taste of corruption and xenophobia. The threat is that national dirty politics capture a regional university, which then goes down in political infighting.

Let us hope it will not go any further, and VC Pal can continue his good and important work. As a regional university, for 40 percent funded by mainly New Zealand and Australia, it would be essential Australia joins New Zealand, Samoa and Nauru in their wish to put this episode behind them, and stop the baseless attacks on USP’s VC.

Making a public statement however may not be enough.

Final remarks
Since 2018, both PNG universities plunged into an ever-deepening crisis. Since the student representative councils were rendered powerless or suspended, the students’ voice was effectively silenced. Both universities are now unable to retain honest and professional staff, with the Papua New Guineans being the first to leave, followed by all expatriate faculty members with other career options, and work experience at world-class universities.

All others are desperate to leave, but often unsuccessful.

PNG universities may have a second chance if their council is renewed and the council members appointed by Peter O’Neill lose their seats. It is imperative the students’ voice and university autonomy is restored, by revoking article 109 of the 2014 Higher Education Act, which only purpose was to establish strong political control.

The University of South Pacific can well emerge stronger from the present crisis, if it is short and the commission doing the independent investigation is indeed independent and given a broad mandate.

This is what saved my position in 2013 when Judge Sevua’s team established there was nothing wrong with my appointment or actions, and rather focused its attention on the mismanagement overseen by the previous university council and management.

VC Pal Ahluwalia today indicated he would cooperate fully with the investigation, which is the right thing to do. He has no other option.

It would be important, however, the main stakeholders and in particular Australian government make their support for good governance and VC Pal is heard, before this institution too succumbs to political infighting as has happened in PNG.

References
Schram, Albert (2014). University Governance and Transparency in the PNG University System, Journal of Pacific Studies, Volume 34, pp. 77-90 (ISSN 1011-3029). Retrieved from https://www.usp.ac.fj/fileadmin/files/Institutes/jps/Volumes/Volume_34_No_1_2014/Full_Text_-_University_governance_and_transparency_in_the_PNG_higher_education_system.pdf

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz