Invest more in education

OUR country gained political independence after over 70 years (1906-1975) from the Australian colonial administration.
The economic activities were centered on the extraction of natural resources while education was left to the missionaries.
After 45 years of being independent, it seems our country’s development policy has changed very little from the colonial administration.
If we want to change the outcome of our country, we need to do things differently.
Until recently, education was never given the attention it needed, but challenges still remain to improve the quality of our education system.
To change for a better future, quality education must take centre stage.
Clear evidence suggests that least developed countries are now enjoying improved standards of living.
It is true that many other factors contribute to change but any change without changing the people’s intellectual capacity is useless.
To do things differently, a greater proportion of our natural resource’s income and cost saving from a restructured public service mechanism must be invested in increasing the number of universities, colleges and technical institutions across the country to absorb the increasing population, improve the learning facilities to global standards, recruit the best teachers at all levels of learning and teaching the highest paid job in the country.
The Government should create partnership with international learning institutions and establish under foreign aid agreements to engage highly skilled technical trainers to assist with training in technical learning institutions.
Only highly educated Papua New Guineans will turn the economy and improve the living standard of our country.

Kelvin Waukave,
EHP