Professor Chandra said the scheme was implemented after council meetings last year.
“In 2008, following Senate and Council meetings, the University of the South Pacific abolished 98 courses. This will reduce the number of academic staff needed to teach these courses in 2009,” he said.
Chandra did not elaborate on the number of staff to lose their jobs, but USP Staff Association president Sunil Kumar said that “around 30 staff” are facing the chop.
USP’s director of human resources, Agnes Kotoisuva, said certain courses have been removed from the university’s course list due to low enrolment rates.
“The university is contemplating the termination for redundancy of some staff after some courses have been deleted because of low enrolments for those courses over the last few years,” said Kotoisuva.
“The university has had consultations over this with staff representatives and will shortly be consulting the individuals who may be affected.”
Kumar said the staff association has opposed the redundancy plan of USP from the start and will keep engaging management in discussions to avoid further job losses.
