Lack of employment a concern

Youth & Careers

By EREBIRI ZURENUOC
MOST students in remote areas who receive training from Technical and Vocational Education Training (Tvet) centres cannot find work, an official says.
Menyamya Tvet centre deputy manager Yokea Guwo is worried that students were not guaranteed a job after completing training because the certificates were not advanced.
“Students need further training from higher Tvet institutions in order to get employed,” Guwo said.
“Most students from Menyamya Vocational are still unemployed.
“Only the lucky ones who received on-the-job training are employed.
“One way to advance the students in their field of study is to look for means and ways to further their education. They need to have diploma certificates.”
Guwo, who is also the coordinator for job training and external programmes at the Tvet centre in Menyamya, has managed to secure further training for his students.
Twenty three students from Menyamya got their acceptance to study and receive diploma certificates from the Highlands Youth Training and Rehabilitation College in Jiwaka.
“There is no further hope,” Guwo said. “Give them a diploma certificate so that they can be equipped to get a job right away, and help their district in terms of development.”
He said the training and rehabilitation centre in Jiwaka was chosen because it was flexible to take in students, and there were less processes involved to enrol more students.
“The school fee is more than K5000 for each student,” Guwo said.
“I appeal to Menyamya MP and the Morobe governor for support, and also the Tvet coordinators and Education Department to help Tvet students in rural areas find job opportunities.”
Provincial Tvet coordinator Lina Tarubia said because there was no provincial Tvet plan, it was up to each Tvet centre in Morobe to look for on-the-job training and further education training for students.
“There are linkage programmes such as national certificates 1, 2, 3 and 4, and students can continue training from there,” she said,
Tarubia said the consultative workshop, which was held last week to draft a provincial Tvet plan, would support the Tvet sector in the province to coordinate students’ training and guarantee employment.