USP opens 4th regional campus
Prime, Hon Manaseh Sogavare, flanked by Asian Development Bank President, Mr Takehiko Nakao, and USP Pro Vice Chancellor Mr Winston Thompson.
The University of the South Pacific held a ground breaking ceremony for its new Solomon Islands campus in Panatina, Honiara today.
The six-thousand-square meter complex will be the university’s 4th campus and the center for public health studies in the region.
Speaking during the ground breaking ceremony, USP Vice chancellor, Prof. Rajesh Chandra said the new project was an important step in increasing tertiary student enrollment in Solomon Islands.
Prof. Chandra said the gross enrollment ratio of tertiary education in the country is less than 3 percent, which was very low by international standards.
Guests touring the new site.
He said, although public health will be the anchor program, the entire range of USP programs will be offered at the campus.
Prof. Chandra also thanked the Solomon Islands government for offering the land for the campus and declaring tax exemptions for the project.
He said the hallmark of the new campus is that it will have Information and Communication Technology enabled education.
“With state of the art ICT equipment, we will provide internationally accredited program here in the Solomons,” he said.
“With the University straddling an area of 36 million square kilometers, with 12 countries, the only means of ensuring access to quality learning, is to utilize ICT to the fullest.”
Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare, ADB President and USP officials pose in front of the new campus
SIBC understands, 75 percent of campus electricity will be solar-powered, and the campus will also have public health facilities, which are the first of its kind in the Pacific.
By: Lowen Sei