4 Mar 2013

USP Kiribati campus first to be upgraded

11:27 am on 4 March 2013

The head of the University of the South Pacific says Kiribati will be the first to benefit from an upgrade to tertiary education planned for the region over the next six years.

Vice Chancellor, Rajesh Chandra, says the USP's new strategic plan has a budget of 135 million US dollars.

He says the development of regional campuses is a major focus of the plan.

He says new university buildings are proposed for Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands, and the Tongan campus will be extended.

He says a rebuild of the USP's facility in Kiribati is the first part of the project to boost access to higher education.

"The first one will be the construction, the beginning of the construction of the replacement campus in Kiribati. It'll be knocked down and a three level building will replace the current building."

Rajesh Chandra says a five percent increase in fees introduced this year will help fund the strategic plan.