BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
ACCORDING to SINU’s (Solomon Islands National University) acting Vice Chancellor, Dr Prem Rai, there is a need to expand the tertiary education sector in Solomon Islands.
He stressed that all high school leavers cannot come to SINU given the reality that the university cannot accommodate or cope with so many students.
Rai explained that right now, SINU has seven and a half thousand full time students which is the maximum they can actually take in with the resources they have.
On top of that, he said they also have about 1,500 students enrolled in the flexible learning distance education programme.
Rai expressed that the university is promoting distance education for young people who cannot get a scholarship to study overseas or enroll at SINU.
“So don’t lose hope. For those who cannot get into the university or those who cannot get a scholarship to go overseas, you can still pursue education through distance flexible learning,” he said.
The acting Vice Chancellor also mentioned that they are promoting this program.
He emphasised that there is a need for the expansion of the tertiary education sector in Solomon Islands to cater for the high number of school leavers in the country.
“There is a need to expand the tertiary education sector. So all high school leavers can be able to pursue tertiary education which gives the skills and knowledge to emerge as a confident human being, a confident citizen,” said Rai.