O’Neill: Invest wisely

 By MIRIAM MALAWA

WISE investment in education will reap future benefits for Papua New Guinea, says Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

He said human capital provided competitive advantage and countries that invested wisely in education and human resource development clearly have higher standards of living of their citizens. 

O’Neill was speaking at the 58th graduation ceremony of the University of PNG last Friday.

Outlining the importance of education in today’s technology-driven and skilled-based world, the prime minister told the graduates that receiving high quality education and skills training had become extremely important for many 

countries. 

He added that nations such as India and China were enjoying real growth and prosperity today because of their investments in education and human resources.

“These are underpinned by the provision of high quality, affordable education, skills and technology knowledge,” O’Neill said.

“In this context, our government has also embraced the importance of providing quality education, skills and technology training for our young people.

“It was here in 2011 that we announced the government’s free education policy and subsidised tuition fees and increased allowance at tertiary intuitions including our universities. 

“This is a good start but we are serious about building on this initiative in a big way to achieving universal free education in our country.” 

Student representative Flora Matiabe urged the government to ensure there were sufficient employment opportunities for university graduates.

Matiabe also urged the graduates to uphold the image of the university in whatever fields they would undertake.

“We must show the world that the university is cable of producing professionals,” she said.

  l See also Pages 16-17