By SHEILA LASIBORI
GOVERNOR-General Sir Paulias Matane has called for the introduction of technical and vocational education to elementary and primary schools in the country.
He said every year a lot of young people were being forced onto the streets due to limited spaces in the formal education system along with the high cost of education in the country.
“It is now very critical that we should introduce vocational and technical schools beginning in Grade 3 to Grade 8,” he said, adding that in this way, some of the young people who missed out on selections and getting paid jobs can be equipped with technical skills.
Sir Paulias said such skills as brick-making, carpentry, joinery, tailoring and home economics should be some of the skills that should be taught to students at very young age.
“All schools should be involved in practical agriculture and move towards downstream processing,” he said, adding service delivery ventures such as tourism at the village level should also be established.
“I would like to see tourism go right into the rural areas. We could build guest houses.”
Sir Paulias also called for improvement in infrastructure in parts of the country so visitors can have access to some of these local tourist destinations.
He was especially concerned that young people were not being accepted in higher institutions due to limited spaces and poor academic results.
“Many of these people, when they are out of the education system, cannot find employment.
“We are sitting on a time bomb.
“If we cannot do anything now, it will be worse in the future,” Sir Paulias said.
He also called for people who have retired from formal and paid employment to return home to their respective localities and become subsistence farmers.