Hualupmomi says it takes time and proper planning to establish universities

DEPARTMENT of Higher Education, Research Science and Technology’s (DHERST) acting secretary Dr Francis Hualupmomi says it takes years to establish a university.
Hualupmomi was responding to a question by a senior education official from the New Guinea Islands who asked if there were plans by DHERST to establish more universities in the region.
He said: “Universities take more than 10 years to establish and there are so many requirements and standards to be met in order to establish a university that is recognisable by DHERST.”
Hualupmomi said it took a lot of time, proper planning, resources and years to establish one and cited a few universities in the country to paint a clear picture to his statements.
“For example, the Lutheran University of Papua New Guinea took more than 20 years to be established while the Western Pacific University had taken close to 10 years to be established,” he said.
However, the senior education official did not quite agree with the response from the DHERST acting secretary.
New Guinea Islands Catholic Church coordinator Leoba Olpitarea, who had served in that position for 20 years, told The National: “There is a great need for the establishment of more universities in the region.”
She said for years, students from the region had to travel out to other provinces to attend tertiary institutions.
She said the region had several colleges such as the Kokopo Business College and the Gaulim Teachers’ College, however, they were not universities.
Olpitarea said although the Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment (PNGUNRE) was established there, it specialised only in agriculture and could not cater for the other trainings.
She said the region should have more universities so that students in the region could remain there for studies.
“In early 2012, the region had lost so many of its students when the MV Rabaul Queen that was travelling from Kimbe to Lae capsized and sank in the Solomon Sea,” she said.
Olpitarea said avoiding such tragic incidents from re-occurring in future and keeping their tertiary student’s safe was the main reason why she had raised the question to the department of higher education.