BY JUNELYN KELLY & IRWIN ANGIKI
The SIG Scholarship list for 2026 is yet to be published.
This is despite the list being officially endorsed by Education Minister Tozen Leokana on Thursday last week.
Island Sun was told at the endorsement ceremony that the list would be published the next day. It did not happen.
However, a portion of the list was emailed to ongoing SIG students in Fiji on Monday this week.
The email contained a list of 118 names purportedly of new SIG recipients awarded scholarships for USP (University of the South Pacific) Laucala campus and FNU (Fiji National University). Island Sun has sighted this email.
Ongoing SIG students in Fiji were instructed to inform anyone they knew in the list that he/she has been awarded a SIG scholarship, and to advise them to go to the National Scholarship Division at the Education Ministry ‘as soon as possible’.
“Check with them, if he or she has yet to apply for admission, please tell them to do so as soon as possible,” the email said.
Students and parents decry this seemingly secretive way the education ministry is releasing the list.
“While many of us parents and applicants are waiting anxiously for the list, the ministry of education (MEHRD) after officially endorsing the list, has not published it for us to see.
“Instead now we are seeing a small part of the list is being sent to ongoing SIG sponsored students in Fiji telling them to inform those who have been awarded. Is there anything MEHRD and SITESA are trying to hide from public?” the parents and applicants told Island Sun this week.
Meanwhile, officials from the National Training Unit (NTU) who spoke to Island Sun under condition of anonymity yesterday deny that the list in the student emails is the official list for USP Laucala and FNU students.
“That is an eligibility list, which is a preliminary one used in the early stages of selection. It is different to the official one.
“We have advised those circulating it to stop since they are spreading misinformation,” the NTU officials said.
On Monday this week, NTU Director John Iromea told Island Sun reporter Junelyn Kelly that they are waiting for SITESA (Solomon Islands Tertiary Education and Skills Authority) to provide the official list before they can publish them.
He could not comment when asked why the delay after Minister Tozen Leokana officially endorsed the list on Thursday last week.
The scholarship list will be published on the national scholarship office’s official social media platform, Island Sun was told. The name of the facebook page was not given.
Island Sun was also told that successful applicants will receive notification via for their application portals.
In-service applicants are advised to contact the Ministry of Public Service and TPU/MEHRD for further information.
There is a notice at the NTU office saying the national scholarship office is closed to consultations this week, Jan 9 – 13, to allow them to focus on scholarship matters.
The SIG scholarship 2026 list was late, endorsed on February 5 by Minister Leokana.
FNU semester 1 began on Monday (Feb 9) this week, and USP semester 1 begins on Monday, Feb 23.
SINU starts classes on March 2.
PNG tertiary institutions – PAU on Feb 23, UniTech on Feb 23. UPNG Waigani and Turama already began classes on Feb 9.
The ongoing delay exacerbates the dilemma applicants and parents are facing, furthermore successful recipients may be late for admission to these institutions.
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