Fifteen recipients of the Australia Award Scholarships program funded by Australian government have arrived in Fiji to commence their studies.

The Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Emily Luck told the Samoa Observer on Friday that the Australian government is pleased that the COVID-19 travel restrictions that affected the Australia Awards and the Australia Award Pacific scholarship programs have started to ease to enable their scholarship recipients to travel.

"Both schemes are an important element of our partnership with Samoa and offer an important opportunity to the next generation of global leaders to study in Australia and the region," Ms. Luck said in an email response. 

"We were recently able to mobilise 15 students to commence their undergraduate studies in Fiji at the University of South Pacific."

An Australia Award scholarship recipient, Melina Solomua said in a Facebook post that they have arrived safely in Fiji and are currently at a hotel.

"We are safely here in the hotel Tanoa. As for me, I appreciate this offer very much and I am going to use this opportunity wisely for the future benefit of my country," she posted on the social media platform.

According to the Australian High Commissioner, the students are undertaking courses in civil engineering, science, law, accounting and environmental management. 

"We wish them the best of luck for their academic year ahead," Ms Luck said. "We were also able to repatriate eight students who successfully completed their studies in Fiji at the end of 2021. 

"We look forward to their contributions to the future development of Samoa."

The closing of Samoa's international borders in early 2020, following the discovery and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, displaced hundreds of Samoan students over the past two years. It also led to the temporary suspension of travel for Samoan scholarship recipients to Australia and New Zealand.