Tertiary level education in Vanuatu is provided through the University of the South Pacific (USP). USP is a regional university with campuses in many Pacific countries, including the Port Vila campus in Vanuatu. Vanuatu students can enroll at the USP and take courses at the appropriate campus (UNESCO 2008).

The University of the South Pacific (USP) is the main provider of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Vanuatu. Students can enroll at USP and take courses at the appropriate campus. The main colleges which provide TVET are Vanuatu Agricultural College, the Vanuatu Maritime College, the Vanuatu Institute of Teacher Education and Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT). VIT plays an especially important role in Vanuatu’s TVET programmes and has developed a strategic plan and vision for TVET at both the local and national level (UNESCO 2008).

Access to higher education and TVET are geographically limited in Vanuatu, and the total enrolment for tertiary education is only about 5% of the corresponding age-group population. Opportunities that are available for higher education and TVET are unfairly distributed between boys and girls, with about 6% of the male population and only 3% of the female population enrolled in tertiary education (UIS n.d.). Additionally, people with disabilities face severe obstacles to access. Fees and charges are another major barrier for poorer families (UNESCO 2008).  

Vanuatu higher education and TVET do not always provide relevant skills to students and many school graduates cannot find jobs. The school-to-work transition is often difficult and TVET does not always support Vanuatu’s productive sectors. Occupational skills and education standards required for work in the private sector should be identified in order to improve the quality of TVET and higher education in Vanuatu (UNESCO 2008).

Tertiary education is provided by the University of the South Pacific, which is a regional institution with campuses in many Pacific countries, including Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Ministry of Education oversees all formal TVET programmes, while the Ministry of Youth Development controls non-formal TVET programmes. The Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) develops and implements TVET policy for both formal (through the Ministry of Education) and non-formal TVET (through Ministry of Youth Development and Training). The Ministries of Education and Youth Development in turn produced Corporate Plans, which dictate the policy for TVET within the government agencies. The key governmental agency is the Vanuatu National Training Council (VNTC). It bears the responsibility of accrediting TVET courses and creating the National Qualifications Framework. The VNTC also controls for quality, standards and certification of TVET courses. The non-formal providers overseen by the Ministry of Youth Development and Training are mostly community-based organizations and private providers. This non-formal sector plays an important role in providing services to the majority rural population in Vanuatu (UNESCO 2008).

Vanuatu’s Government Priorities Action Agenda for 2006-15 recognizes that education and training must be made relevant to the various sectors of the economy. It identifies a relationship between developing individual potential and national sustainable development. Additionally, the Vanuatu Education Sector Strategy (VESS) goals for 2007-16 include expanding access to technical, tertiary and higher education and ensuring that the education system focuses on building the human resources of Vanuatu. It also aims to improve learning, living and working opportunities, and enables young people to contribute to the productive sectors in both rural and urban areas. Vanuatu is making progress in the provision of TVET through the articulation of TVET Policy. The “TVET System for Vanuatu” is a government publication that identifies the key stakeholders in formal and non-formal education in Vanuatu. It also recognizes how these programmes relate to each other and the regulating agencies. However, work remains to be done in strengthening the pathways between TVET and higher education. TVET qualifications are not yet widely recognized by both industry and educational institutions in Vanuatu and in other countries. Even so, enrolment in TVET is on the rise (UNESCO 2008).