|
Sports |
Build more schools for skills
training
LIKE many other educational
institutions in the country, the Holy Trinity Teachers College in
Mt Hagen is facing problems created by poor planning by those
sitting in offices in Waigani.
The college had to turn away about a thousand young people who
wanted to become teachers due to limited space.
These young people are now disappointed, frustrated, and angry.
They tend to blame the institution, whereas the fault lies with a
system that is not thinking ahead.
The problem is a result of the glut created by an increasing
number of Grade 12 leavers with high expectations but not enough
tertiary spaces nor employment for them.
The problem is greater for teachers colleges because graduates are
generally guaranteed a job in the education system.
Many people who apply do not really want to be teachers but are
desperate for a steady income.
At a meeting with local level government councillors, the
college’s board of governors and other local leaders in Mt Hagen
recently, I was asked to protest in the strongest terms to the
national and provincial government planners about the difficult
situation created for the college and other such institutions as
well as for employers.
Where is the Government’s employment policy?
The national and provincial governments must urgently address the
issue through investment in the infrastructure of existing
tertiary institutions.
Holy Trinity could use more dormitory space, in order to enrol
more students.
There is a need for more such institutions to be established,
especially for technical training to provide workers for an
expanding job market.
If no attention is paid to this issue, every year we will see more
of the disaffected unemployed youth, whose frustration can be
exploited by unscrupulous leaders, as we have seen in other parts
of the world.
Archbishop Douglas W. Young
Mt Hagen
 
|
