Aussie deal signed to boost education

BOUGAINVILLE Governor Joe Lera, pictured, says education for young people in the province is the key to sustaining its peace agreement and post-referendum success.
Lera signed an agreement with the Central Queensland University (CQU) in conjunction with TAFE in Rockhampton, Australia, to ensure that more Bougainville students had the opportunity to undertake a business administration programme at those institutes.
Eleven Bougainville students have returned after completing the programme.
The signing of the agreement was witnessed by South Bougainville MP William Nakin and Bougainville Affairs and North Bougainville MP
Fr Simon Dumarinu.
“I started this programme to develop people to build a nation,” Lera said. “My intention was to train and educate future leaders so that they can sustain the peace agreement after the referendum.”
Lera said that the Bougainville crisis left a high number of illiterates so its government felt obliged to tackle the issue.
“The programme was initially created to give hope and future to young Bougainvilleans because the crisis really affected us,” he said.
Lera appealed to other provincial governments to invest in the programme.