Three Recruit Prison Officers from Tonga have successfully completed their training in Fiji under a regional cooperation programme that aims to strengthen public safety in the Pacific.

Tonga is the first regional counterpart to participate in the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) basic recruit training programme.

The three graduates, RPO Tonga Fakaofo, RPO Taise Manu’atu and RPO Mele Stewart were awarded their Certificate Level 5 in Correctional Management from Fiji National University on 9 December 2025, a first for Tonga’s corrections system.

Siulolo Tapueluelu said that the recruits graduated alongside their FCS counterparts after attending a 14 weeks course held from December 2024 until March 2025. RPO Fakaofo Tonga was awarded the “Best in Physical Training” prize at the Pass-Out Parade at the end of the training.

The initiative was made possible through collaboration between His Majesty’s Prisons,  Tonga Police, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and FCS, following recognition that Tonga lacked the internal capacity and resources to conduct accredited correctional recruit training.

“HM Prisons lacks qualified staff and resources to conduct our own internal recruit training. ...a majority of our staff had not received proper correctional training,” she said.

Siulolo said that a Memorandum of Understanding of cost sharing between HM Prisons and the Fiji Corrections was endorsed by both the Fiji and Tonga Cabinets for three years.

Tonga was invited again to join FCS’s Basic Recruit Course ½5 this year.