Gillard vows to fund 20 teacher training places

By SANJAY BHOSALE
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced funding a new education programme for Papua New Guinea.
Under the programme, Australia would provide funding for 20 new teacher training places and A$1 million (K2.2 million) to help women political leaders gain skills.
While welcoming Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to the 20th annual Australia-PNG ministerial forum at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday, Gillard said: “I am passionate about education and its capacity to transform the lives of individuals and of nations.
“So I am pleased to announce today an additional 20 places for students from rural areas of PNG to obtain teaching qualifications, another area where partnership is vital.”
Gillard also congra­tulated O’Neill on his efforts to boost the number of women in parliament.
“It is a remarkable aspiration and we warmly wish you well in succeeding in it,” she said.
O’Neill praised Australia’s continuing assistance towards PNG’s development.
But, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he sounded this warning: “For AusAID to continue to operate a parallel development programme independently and based on the organisation’s assumption of what is good for PNG must be discouraged by Canberra.
“Both AusAID and successive PNG governments have been spending separate amounts of money on the same development activities for many, many years.
“Sadly, we have not achieved the desired outcomes.
“I think, together, AusAID and our go­vernment can avoid the missed opportunities and the poor outcomes on the investments in education, health and on infrastructure development and law and order improvement programmes.”