A Fiji MP says universities in the country haven't been growing in line with demand in the last decade.
Doctor Ganesh Chand is to run the new University of Fiji from a campus in the west of the main island, which he says will focus on information technology courses, and complement other tertiary institutes.
Dr Chand says many parents from lower-income families in the west of the country can't afford to send their children to university in the capital.
"There is a major problem of accommodation - student accommodation - in Suva, where the University of the South Pacific is located. Accommodation is sky-high, so education has been largely made unaffordable for the average person in the country."
Dr Chand says the university will run programmes not offered by USP or others, and also send students on to study at USP.
He expects international enrolment to pick up ahead of the first semester in March.
