Agreement opens doors for school leavers

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
AN agreement was signed yesterday by the Papua New Guinea government and stakeholders to help students on vocational scholarship.
The agreement was signed between the Office of Higher Education and the Ginigoada Foundation in Port Moresby.
It will provide job opportunities for graduates in the trade skills industry for those studying under the Technical Vocational Education Trade Skills scholarship (TVETSS) in Cairns and Townsville, Australia.
The initiative was the government’s response to the skills and employment gap in the country as identified in the PNG Labour Market Assessment Survey 2008–2010 and the development needs outlined in the PNG Vision 2050 and Development Strategic Plan 2030.
The Ginigoada Foundation provides help for job placements for TVETSS graduates with companies in the country. 
Ginigoada representative Mick Field, representing the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said employment in the trade industry in PNG was a high demand.
He said it would help the programme in securing jobs for graduates.
TVET consultant George Bopi said the agreement would provide the opportunity for graduates to be part of the dynamic workforce required to transform PNG from a low middle income economy to a middle income economy.
He said “it is the continuing role of the government to prepare its workforce to achieve the macro policies in the PNG Vision 2050 and Development Strategic Plan 2030”.
Higher Education general secretary Dr William Tagis said it was an opportunity for school and non-school leavers to get exposed in the skills trade, “which is a demand in the growing economy of PNG”.
The TVET scholarship programme was started this year as a pilot programme.
The programme had 128 school and non-school leavers from across the country studying in Australia.
The first batch of 58 students has graduated, with the second lot of 70 to graduate next month. 
The training was on fabrication, civil construction and mechanical and automatic engineering.
From the batch, five women have already secured jobs with the Koitaki Plantations Ltd in Sogeri, Central, through the job placement arrangement with the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  
The scholarship programme aims to enrol 200 students for 2012.  
The courses studied are on the 14 key areas of government development which include agriculture, forestry, fishery, mining industry, tourism industry, transport infrastructure and communication.
Candidates are required to apply with a Grade 12 grade point average of 2.50.
It is a five-year programme and will be revised after 2015 for assessment and evaluation.
The duration of the training is six months.