Aiyura School sees students graduate

Aiyura National School of Excellence has graduated nearly 300 students on Friday as Rachael Marape, wife of Prime Minister James Marape, encouraged them to keep a look out for the Government’s engagement programmes after Year 12.
Marape highlighted the availability of Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and agriculture when she told students that if they could not find a space at tertiary institutions and colleges, they should consider returning to their land to run their own small agriculture businesses.
Rachael an alumnus of Aiyura National High School (1988/1989), spoke on behalf of the prime minister who was engaged with the October session of Parliament.
“There are thousands of you coming out of schools every year but there are not enough jobs at the moment for you all,” she said.
“There will be some extra jobs available when all our mines are up and running later.
“So for now, it is better if you create your own employment if you cannot find space at a college or university.
“As the Prime Minister stresses, you can return to your land back in your districts and grow coffee or cocoa, open a trade store, catch fish and sell it, grow vegetables or raise chickens for sale, open up a guest house and get into tourism.
“The avenues are endless on the land and this is easy because you own the land yourself unlike other countries where the Government owns the land.
“It is also getting easier to access markets because the Government is building roads connecting rural areas to towns in its programme called Connect PNG Programme.”
Marape also encouraged the students with information about the Government’s expansion of recruitment in police and military training and labour mobility where they should expect fruit-picking and other employment opportunities abroad to be coming out soon.