Salesians hold conference

The National Education

REPRESENTATIVES from Papua New Guinea were part of the Salesian Higher Education Institutions (IUS) in East Asia Oceania that had their first regional conference recently.
The conference was attended by six Catholic institutions from three countries: Salesian Polytechnic Tokyo, Japan, which had the privilege of hosting the first ever IUS Conference in the region; Don Bosco Technical College Mandaluyong and Don Bosco College Canlubang from the North Philippine Province; Don Bosco Technical College, Cebu, from the South Philippine Province; Don Bosco Technological Institute East Boroko and Don Bosco Simbu Technical College Kumgi from the Vice Province of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
The conference had a good mix of seven Salesian priests, five lay people and one religious brother. Among the lay people were two female participants.
Among the topics discussed were  the variety of higher education institutions in the region; assessment of the application of the recently updated IUS policies 2016-2021 in the institutions; study and critique of the working document on the “Orientations for university ministry in the IUS,” presentation of the main features, contents and process of making an institutional project for each IUS; formation proposals for IUS directors and managers, as well as leading animators of university ministry; implementation of the common programme (2016-2021), and proposals for networking with other university bodies with IUS of other regions or continents, and among the IUS in  the region.
Some concrete networking initiatives included the IUS logo contest, a unified IUS website, and a publication of scholarly articles regarding “Salesian Charism and Higher Education”.
The conference participants also proposed to hold the next regional conference in Cebu, Philippines, in April 2019, to enhance and discuss more of the topics.
As a first regional conference, all the participants were satisfied with the valuable opportunities for fraternal sharing and family bonding, for networking and collaboration and for deepening of common Salesian passion for the education and evangelisation of the young, especially those most in need.