Nikhat Shameem is a Fijian academic in the field of linguistics. Her research interests include language maintenance and shift of pidgins, creoles and minority languages, language teaching and assessment, and sociolinguistic surveys. [1] Shameem also leads initiatives to preserve and revitalise the Fiji-Hindi language. [2]
Shameem was born and raised in Suva, Fiji, and studied education at the University of the South Pacific. [3] She completed a diploma in teaching English as a second language, and a PhD in applied linguistics, at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She completed a master's degree in business administration at the University of Cumbria, England, graduating in 2019. [1] [4]
Shammem worked for UNICEF in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Sudan, and returned to Fiji in 2018. [4] In 2019, she was appointed interim director of the Fiji Higher Education Commission. [4]
Shameem speaks Fiji Hindi and is active in preserving and revitalisting the language. [2] In 2019, she published a book of poetry in Fiji Hindi, and is the only person to have written and published poetry in this language. [3]