Tertiary institutes need to produce graduates that are meeting requirements of employers - Usamate

Minister for Employment Jone Usamate has again stressed to tertiary and technical institutes to think whether they are producing graduates that are meeting the requirements of the those that will employing them.

Usamate has told representatives from the tertiary and technical institutes that the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation which represents the largest grouping of skilled workers in the country always raises concerns about the quality of graduates coming out.

While speaking at the Institutional Forum organized by the National Employment Centre at the Holiday Inn today, Usamate stressed that it is essential that students at tertiary institutes fit the purpose for which they are produced for.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate from 2010 to 2011 was around 6.9% and Usamate expects the rate to go down in the new survey which is underway.

He says there is a labour force of around 350,000 people in the country, of which 60% is in the informal sector

He stressed that one of the big concerns is the high rate of youth unemployment and the last estimates show that it was 18% in Fiji.

Usamate says government has put in place whole range of initiatives to encourage those coming out of schools to get employment.