As the ongoing conflict between the staff unions and management at the University of the South Pacific heads towards strike action, dissent has broken out between the USP Students’ Association and students supporting sacked academic and former USP staff union head, Dr Tamara Osborne-Naikatini. There are claims that the Students’ Association is being influenced by management.
Aisha Azeemah reports matters are expected to come to a head at a special meeting of the USP Council called by the Fiji Government to deescalate the situation.
The students rise
On August 14, one day after the two USP unions—the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff and Administration and Support Staff Union—voted to go on strike demanding Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia’s removal, USP management issued a press statement claiming the support of the USP Students’ Association (USPSA).
USPSA President, Christopher Siliva, was quoted in the statement as saying, “The USP Students’ Association has been in regular communication with the management, including the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Pal Ahluwalia”.
Almost immediately, students from the School of Agriculture, Geography, Environment, Ocean and Natural Sciences (SAGEONS) who were affected by the dismissal of Discipline Coordinator for Biology, Osborne-Naikatini, began to question management’s claims of unanimous student body support.
This group of early career researchers claimed their research had been stymied by Osborne-Naikatini’s dismissal, asserting that the action would affect a generation of future researchers and academics in fields that the region has a dire lack of experts.
On August 16, the group met with the Students’ Association to share their concerns. Three days later, on August 19, the USPSA released a media statement to announce they had since met with University management again and had raised the student group’s issues.
“Considering the concerns received by the USP Students’ Association from some of its members, USPSA executives, including its Laucala Branch executives met with the Senior Management Team members, including with the ViceChancellor and President, the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation, Dean of Graduate School and the Head of School concerned to discuss the arrangements that have been put forward for the affected students,” the press release stated.
“Following its meetings with the management and concerned members, USP Students’ Association is satisfied that the management has put in place arrangements to ensure that the services to these students continue without any interruption.”
The statement sparked a social media movement that was joined by students beyond the initial postgraduate group that spoke with the association.
This bigger group shared the media release with a “Fail” stamped over it and a hashtag saying, “Justice for Dr Tamara”.
This growing group of students claims no acceptable arrangements have been put in place to mitigate the effects of Osborne-Naikatini’s removal, considering their claim that her knowledge as a regional expert was near irreplaceable.
Questions sent to the Students’ Association by Islands Business last month seeking information on its arrangements with USP management remain unanswered.
Students who are part of this social media movement claim they believe the Students’ Association’s media statement points to the University management having a hand in USPSA decisions.
“I think we can all say that we are a victim of systematic bullying as the University management has targeted us with this PR stunt to silence our call for justice,” one student said, while speaking to Islands Business on the condition of anonymity.
“If anything, they have used false information and hidden behind policies to protect their personal attacks. The system is broken and does not help the freedom of speech that we were seeking to uphold,” the student said.
“Institutions that are for learning should take extra care to help students reach their highest potential. Management has, instead, handicapped our research efforts. Clearly those in management are not competent to do this work as they keep acting as gatekeepers when questioned about their actions, especially when it impacts the hard work of upcoming Pacific researchers.”
Two groups of students have since written to the USP Council, which is the University’s governing body, with their issues in lieu of approaching the Students’ Association.
Letters from a group of final year Geospatial Science students and a group of second-, and third-year Earth Science students, dated August 23 and 30 respectively, were reportedly sent to the Council alongside a petition signed by 88 students claiming a shortage of teaching faculty was putting a strain on their education.
“There is a shortage of staff, and we are feeling the effect with our studies,” the letter from the Geospatial Science students said. “The tutorial classes are larger than usual, making it hard for us to get the attention we need as per the normal 20-25 students per session. In some cases, classes have been cancelled,” the petition said.
“With five GIS courses offered this semester, there is only one full-time lecturer, and the rest are consultants who are not around for student consultations, especially when we need them to seek clarification on assignments. These services are important to us, and without them, many students are struggling and on the failure route.
“We know that the current staff are doing their best under these circumstances, and we deeply appreciate their efforts. However, we are worried that if this issue is not addressed, it could affect our performance this semester and our completion of the program,” the letter said.
The letter from the group of Earth Science students echoed similar concerns, stating that, “one of the core expectations when enrolling in a face-to-face (F2F) mode is the availability of direct consultation with our lecturers. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.
“The shift to online lectures, which closely resemble watching videos on YouTube, raises concerns about the value of the education we are receiving compared to the fees we are paying. YouTube videos, while informative, are free, whereas we are paying substantial tuition fees with the expectation of interactive, face-to-face learning. This is particularly disheartening when considering that course units were registered under F2F mode, only to be informed in the second or third week that they would be conducted 100% online in a blended mode,” the letter said.
Similar issues have also been raised by the postgraduate student group that has been lobbying for Osborne-Naikatini’s reinstatement. A representative of the group outlined concerns about the lack of face to-face options for Biology students based outside of Fiji, highlighting the difficulties of pursuing the sciences without supervised laboratory work.
Several members of the affected postgraduate student group, have said however, that after the social media outcry, the Students’ Association has been more receptive to the group’s struggles. However, the Association has not signalled any change in its initial position.
The high number of vacancies was one of the reasons the unions voted to go on strike in March, claiming that between 2018 and 2023, vacant positions had increased to 455, and management had refused to fill them.
External perspectives
USP Alumni, retired staff member, and former Staff Association President, Elizabeth Reade Fong, was advisor to the USPSA Federal Committee on Administration until December 2023.
Fong claims the Students’ Association’s statement in support of the VCP contradicts the struggles felt on the ground.
“My knowledge is that while certain people in USPSA are saying that the students support the VCP, the actual vote in Council, after a few executives consulted the students, was to not vote for the VCP’s contract renewal,” Fong shared.
She was referring to the Council’s narrow, 13 to 10 vote last November to extend Ahluwalia’s contract by two years.
“So, there is some disconnect between what is being said by certain USP executives, and what the students feel on the ground. That’s my knowledge.
“I do think there’s not been consultation with the students. It’s a students association. There needs to be enough consultation to come to the decision. That’s my view,” Fong said.
The call for Osborne-Naikatini’s reinstatement is being championed by external bodies as well.
On August 20, a letter to Ahluwalia from Education International for the Asia-Pacific Region was made public.
Education International, a Global Union Federation spanning over 170 countries and territories, including all 12 USP member countries, lists among its core values the aim to “defend and promote democracy, peace, social justice, and human rights, including trade union rights and the right to education”.
The letter signed by Chief Regional Coordinator Anand Singh said, “Education International (El) and its 32.5 million teachers and education personnel in 171 countries, express deep concern and strong disapproval regarding the recent termination of Dr Tamara Osborne-Naikatini, President of the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS).
“Education International Asia Pacific stands firmly with Dr Osborne-Naikatini and the AUSPS in condemning this unjust action. We urge the University of the South Pacific administration to immediately reinstate Dr Osborne-Naikatini to her position and to reaffirm its commitment to upholding the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression.”
What now?
Following the very public furore over Osborne-Naikatini’s dismissal and the University’s unions voting for a second time this year to go on, the matter was raised in Fiji’s Parliament in August.
Within a few weeks, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka met with Fijian government representatives on the USP Council, including the Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro and Permanent Secretary for Education, Selina Kuruleca.
Following that, Radrodro called for a special meeting of the Council to discuss the decision by staff to go on strike, and Osborne-Naikatini’s dismissal.
Speaking to Islands Business after her dismissal, Osborne-Naikatini agreed with our questions on whether the present state of affairs at USP may have been due partly to a culture of the Council becoming too reliant on management to run the University while failing to provide adequate oversight and scrutiny.
“I don’t want to disparage the Council, but I think it’s very, very important that the people who sit on Council take that responsibility more seriously,” she said.
There would be hope “if the Council were to step up and take more accountability for what’s going on at USP and really pull up the strings of the management and say, ‘No…. you need to fix these problems’. Which is what we got the sense is happening, particularly at the last Council meeting, and from the reports that we’ve heard,” she continued, “that they’re starting to actually take notice.
“And the reason they’re starting to take notice is because the staff decided to use the strike as a platform,” she said.
“If they [Council] see that the University is not running effectively, then this is the time for the Council to really step in and say, ‘OK, these are our taxpayers’ dollars we’re investing in this institution. They’re producing graduates that will come and make decisions, that will come and run our country’s economy sometime. We have to take that responsibility a bit more seriously and ensure that if this management team is not doing its job, we’re going to make them do their job or we’re going to replace them to find people who will do that job better’.
“That’s really all it boils down to.”
The General Secretary of the Association of USP Staff, Rosalia Fatiaki confirmed that the Special Council Meeting is set to be held on September 24.
“To have a special Council meeting be called, it’s really a show of the Council taking our grievances seriously and we’re grateful to the [Fiji] Government for their part in this,” Fatiaki said.
“We await the outcome of this Council meeting. We are looking forward to resolving these issues.”
