Education a catalyst for change, says O’Neill

EDUCATION is a powerful enabler and the catalyst for gainful development and positive change of mindset and attitude by Papua New Guineans, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said on Monday.
He told the Pacific Adventist University (PAU) graduation ceremony at which he was guest speaker that education had not fulfilled its role over the years because of neglect.
So much so that the nation’s social indicators did not speak kindly of the education, literacy and numeracy levels of nearly 60% of the population, he said.
“In 36 years of independence we have wasted the most important opportunity – that of educating and creating a knowledgeable, educated and skilled human resource base for this country,” he said.
“There are many other missed opportunities such as in the health, infrastructure, law, order and justice sectors.”
He said these had translated to lack of real life skills so that a lot of the job opportunities presented by various developments in the resource sector “is passing citizens by”.
“It is true but sad that over time, we have created a generation of uneducated and under-educated people in our country, who are faced with these limited choices in their lives,” O’Neill said.
“This is a situation that was allowed to occur because of poor planning, negligible funding and resourcing and absence of attention from past governments of the day to make timely corrective interventions.
“Our government, however, is moving to correct our nation’s education agenda by making education and skills training affordable and available to all our school-age children and citizens.
“We have introduced free education from elementary grades to Grade 10 starting next year.
“We have granted 75% education fee subsidy for all students from Grade 11 to tertiary levels, including universities, starting next year.
“Our government has now embraced the neglected areas of our national development and using them as the new building blocks to getting the nation moving in the best desired direction.”
He expressed his personal happiness to share a joyous moment of achievement with people who had sacrificed and were committed to receive holistic education focusing on academic, spiritual and physical development.
The integration of Christian faith into any curriculum to ensure students are fit for service in their chosen fields with the highest quality of ethics was worthy of high praise, he told the staff, students and relatives.
“Provision of education is neither easy nor cheap and those like PAU, which has taken up the challenge, are to be congratulated,” O’Neill said.