University of the South Pacific

PM Sovaleni said ““As future leaders of our Blue Pacific, it is very important that you stay united and work together to build mutual trust.”

 “USPSA has done a good job in starting the Pacific Youth Movement on Good Governance in the Pacific since 2021.”

He made the following remarks when he officially opened the 26th USP student council meeting at the Tonga campus.

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 

The fallout between the university's governing body, the USP Council, and the head office host nation, Fiji, came to the fore following the deportation of the Vice-Chancellor and President (VCP) three weeks ago.

Pal Ahluwalia and his wife, nursing lecturer Sandra Price, were forced to leave Fiji after the government claimed the couple had breached provisions in their work permits.

USP Chancellor and Nauru President Lionel Aingimea has condemned the removal of the Canadian-born academic.