Skills training that lands jobs

By TONY PALME
MAL Training and Consultancy Centre is an institution based in Banz, Jiwaka offering business and trade courses to Grade 10 and 12 school leavers and the working class with the aim to prepare them with on-the-job skills.
There are other institutions established with the one objective of offering quality education in the courses that they teach but Mal is of the view that not all institutions live up to the expectation of delivering quality outcomes.
Principal director Philip Malye is a certified practicing accountant who has come very low into establishing this institution to give hope to the underprivileged school dropouts and youths as well as enhancing the careers of working class people.
Graduating with an accounting degree from the University of Technology in 2000, Malye is a God-fearing and down to earth character. He has the heart to serve the unprivileged youths in the country and give them a second chance to excel in life.
“I have very high track record in developing human resources for 13 years with two different institutions and produced well over 6,000 students into formal and self-employment.
“I would have worked in a very high office, drive in flashy cars and live in a good house but these would not satisfy me.
“The real satisfaction I gain is when the students that I teach come back with smiles in their faces and say, Philip, I am working with this company now. Thank you for accepting me into your school, trusting me and never giving up on me.
“That’s what makes me happy. I have made a choice to serve mainly the underprivileged and some have proven beyond doubt that they can find employment and are now working and contributing to the development of the country.
“I stand on Proverbs 19:17 to serve in the ministry of the Lord which declares: “He who is kind to the poor/underprivileged lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done.”
Malye concedes that Mal Training and Consultancy Centre exists not to make any profit out of the students but serve solely from the heart.
Mal Training and Consultancy Centre charges only K2,000 for day students and K3,000 for boarding students. Diploma programmes run for one year and certificate courses take six months.
Courses offered are accounting, business, management, sales and marketing, tourism and hospitality, computing and information technology, teacher courses for accelerated learning and international schools, carpentry, mechanics, heavy diesel equipment fittings, electronics, building design and drafting.
The centre has arrangements with established technical institutions for their students to do their practical lessons.
“Computing class is compulsory for all trade students because we live in a technology world. We have highly qualified professional trainers.”
Mal took its first batch in January and more than 30 of them have completed the theory and are currently doing practicals.
The second batch of 40 students are currently studying. More than 70 students will graduate as the pioneer graduates of Mal Training and Consultancy Centre next month.
Malye emphasises that quality education is what Mal stands to achieve with very affordable fees.
“We believe in quality education. We also believe that everybody is born with God-given potential to reach greatness in life.
“Nobody is born a failure. It is the system that fails us. We can overcome these failures and excel and Mal is looking exactly at addressing that,” Malye stresses.
His advice to parents and students and those that are looking to pursue an education in the skilled workforce is to look for a school that is truly committed to provide quality training to meet job demands and employer requirements nowadays, and his institute fits the bill.
Apart from teaching, Malye is a master trainer and is multi-skilled in all business courses and computing. Consultancy services that Malye provides include land and property management, surveying, valuation, financial reports, auditing, taxation, project proposals among others.
He has previously held positions as director of studies in at Kingku Training Institute and Highlands Youth Training College, both in Jiwaka, spanning 13 years in the teaching field.
Malye had stints with various organisations like New Britain Palm Oil, Jimi Valley Traders, Waghi Petroleum Resource, IRMPD Resource Management Consultants & Associates as accountant and auditor.
He was also engaged as the electoral secretary and project consultant with the office of the deputy governor of Western Highlands and office of the MP for North Waghi from 1997-2012.
The World Bank has now awarded a five-year contract to Malye in which he is conducting financial literacy trainings and other skills training for small coffee growers and wet factory owners in the Coffee Industry Corporation Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Projects programme.
Most of the students come from outside provinces like Northern. The campus is located approximately 200 metres west of Banz betel nut market, with its computer facility stationed at the heart of Banz town.
As the number of school drop outs in the country every year has mushroomed to an unprecedented level so as the number of education institutions that are established, all in the name of offering quality on the job training in the skilled workforce, but Mal is different from the rest.
Malye’s advice to parents, guardians and sponsors: “Seek quality education for your children to harvest a successful harvest. Mal Training and Consultancy Centre has all the skills necessary to provide for integral human development.”
One area that fails many students from finding employment in this country is the interview process and procedures that employers have set for job seekers.
Malye says all applicants have the potential but lack confidence in presenting themselves in interviews and cannot explain properly in English, therefore, employers consider them unsuccessful.
“This doesn’t mean they will not perform well in the field. I tell the employers to take them on board and when they do take them, they do not want to let them go. I tell them, see, they cannot speak but they can do the job.”