Fiji’s Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, has sparked an intense social media debate over race, merit, and education after condemning what he described as “hateful, degrading, and corrosive” online commentary targeting the iTaukei community and government scholarship policies.
In a widely shared Facebook post, Tikoduadua called out racist remarks made in response to perceptions of ethnic bias in scholarship allocation, saying:
“It is disheartening to hear some within the Fijian-Indian community equate ‘merit’ with their own intelligence, as if others are inherently less capable… We cannot move forward if we continue to drag each other down with toxic, race-based assumptions.”
The minister emphasised that scholarships are distributed based on population proportions, not racial preference, and urged all citizens to reflect on the consequences of their words.
However, his comments triggered a wave of critical responses. Akram Ali in his comment on Tikoduadua’s post expressed concern that Tikoduadua’s remarks could discourage legitimate, data-driven questions about the scholarship system, and cautioned that prioritising ethnicity over excellence might risk promoting mediocrity rather than meritocracy.
Prominent academic Prof. Ganesh Chand rejected the framing of scholarship policy as racially biased. In a detailed Facebook post titled “The Ill-Conceived Scholarship Narrative,” he highlighted significant progress in de-ethnicising tertiary education funding over the past decade.
Prof. Chand observed that past racial concerns were tied to limited government budgets, but noted that successive reforms—particularly under previous governments—ensured universal access to higher education through merit-based scholarships and interest-free loans.
“There is not a single student (of any ethnic group) who can claim that he or she is discriminated against,” Prof. Chand wrote.
“The universal funding support for tertiary education is perhaps one of the best measures Fiji has taken in education.”
Prof. Chand criticised the current government’s return to racial framing in its education discourse, arguing it risks undoing years of progress:
“Such a racial narrative only fuels division. It becomes fodder for demagogues… The new generation does not need actions and statements which keep Fiji divided.”
Adding to the debate, well-known academic and media expert Dr Shailendra Singh took a more introspective tone, encouraging all Fijians to examine their own behaviour:
“Maybe we citizens… should look in the mirror too. Our hateful words, our attitudes, our behaviour—are we not also part of the problem?”
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
