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Growing and learning
By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
Since 1947 the Port
Moresby Technical College has produced over 24,500 graduates in
the electrical, mechanical, building, printing and metal trades.
The college recently celebrated its' 60th anniversary.
The celebration was significant to me as I was among 200 intakes
to under go a year's Pre Employment Trade Training course (PETT)
there 20 years ago.
After completing apprenticeship training some of us returned to
do extension courses as part of our four year apprenticeship to
become qualified trades man.
Some of us are now tradesman in management positions in various
organisations, some are self employed.
Others however were unable to secure apprenticeship and had to
find employment in non technical professions.
During the celebrations Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane
spoke about the nation's need for technical human resources to
develop.
But the irony is that for many years a large number of PETT
graduates struggle to secure apprenticeship while the technical
labour force is becoming flooded with cheap labour from
overseas.
Technical education has been incorporated in the 2005-2015
National medium Term Development Strategy plan and a committee
is working on ways to implement it.
However, the Labour Department must monitor the influx of cheap
foreign technical labour into various industries throughout PNG.
Attending the 60th anniversary celebrations brought back
memories of my days as a PETT electronic student there.
We were grade 10 leavers who had left our parents for the first
time to come to Pom Tech. We were uneasy in a new environment
and hesitant to meet students from different ethnic backgrounds.
During orientation week our instructors laid down the law for
us, rules, regulations and the penalties should we dare break
them.
We cleaned the college grounds and washed down classrooms in
preparation of the school year.
It was during that time I was given a nursery tree to plant. I
planted it in front of the main office of the school of
Electrical trades.
As the days went by, we made new friends and developed new
habits.
There was a tucker box just outside the school fence (its still
there but has been expanded) where all students, regardless of
how strict a home you grew up in, succumbed to peer pressure and
tried their first puff of a cigarette, tasted alcohol or chewed
betelnut.
We were on Government scholarship of K13 per fortnight.
The first two fortnights, we did not get our allowances. On the
third fortnight we received it, a total of K39. This was a lot
of money for us. Our intentions to spend our allowances on needs
were often forgotten as we began to enjoy and often abuse the
freedom of being away from strict parents.
Some students even ventured out to night clubs, returning late
at night in taxis.
After completing the year PETT course, I commenced my
apprenticeship with ALCATEL (PNG) communication (now bought off
by Conxion).
The company sponsored me to return to the college to complete my
extension studies, a requirement to become a tradesman.
My sacking in my third year for committing an offence that
breached the PNG apprenticeship Act 1986 ended my dream to
become a tradesman.
But the experience of being sacked with no proper qualification
and experience was unbearable. My unsuccessful attempts to find
employment and negative attitudes from my families and friends
added to my woes.
I began doing casual jobs to pay for courses to upgrade my
grades to get into University of PNG.
I graduated with a Journalism degree from UPNG and since 2002
have been employed as a reporter with The National.
I'm often haunted by the experienced of my first sacking.
Although I did not become a trade's man, I believed my
apprenticeship training helped me become a responsible person
and contribute to the positive development of the nation in any
profession one is in.
I learnt that no employer is perfect and in every organization,
private or government, there will always be people who will make
life hard for you.
But one has to concentrate on their contribution to your
employer.
During the celebration, I took a good look at the tree that I
planted 20 years ago. I wondered how it managed to blossom in a
harsh and dry climate in a stony environment.
It now provides a welcome shade for students, staff and
visitors.
 
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