Hela puts education first

HELA Governor Philip Undialu’s has called to start strategising and planning for the development of the province.
Undialu said education was a key priority for the future of Hela and workshops with development partners to work together was a fundamental strategy.
The current workshop, sponsored in partnership with PNG LNG project developer ExxonMobil, is setting the way forward for developing partners to invest in education.
A two-day workshop, supported by the Hela government through education and ExxonMobil under their community development services, will outline a strategic roadmap for the partnership.
“Partnership with church is the way forward for all schools. I don’t want to build a technical school somewhere that is subjected to violence and negligence,” Undialu said.
Undialu thanked ExxonMobil for the partnership.
“Let’s begin with something we can achieve and manage first,” he told  participants.
“Let’s not dream of big things. We start small and we will achieve big things though partnerships with development partners such as ExxonMobil, Oil Search and churches.”
The governor further highlighted that Hela had minimal technical expertise and he intended to establish a technical college that will cater for the vacuum in the technical sector of education.
“We have Hope Institute fully operational in the Tari-Pori district built by Minister James Marape, and we will continue to support it,” Undialu said.
“We must also have technical schools and colleges spread in our province, and it would be appropriate for the churches to manage and run these institutions.”
“I am already in discussions with the Philippines and India to bring in technical lecturers and staff to teach in our technical institutions.”