Students form body to address issues

 MANUS students attending tertiary institutions around the country have formed an association aimed at addressing pressing student issues as well as those in their province.

The Manus Tertiary Student Network (MTSN) was set up after Manus Open MP Ronnie Knight set aside K1 million school fee subsidy for them this year.

In a statement, MTSN president, George Sikin thanked Knight, saying injecting funds into education in a province that depended entirely on its human resources was the way forward.

“Give it a five-year projection and I am certain there will be an improvement in students’ performance,” he said.

The students realised the potential in a united, collective approach to achieve more and believed that it was important to promote timely and accurate information dissemination.

To achieve this, the network will hold public forums, talkback shows on local radio stations, visit tertiary institutions and draft petitions on controversial issues that need addressing.

Sikin thanked the NBC team in Manus for their partnership in broadcasting information to students and the people of Manus and the provincial administration for approving the use of facilities.

“Plans are for an official launch at the end of this year but in the meantime the network will formulate its administration and get registered as well as source funding in preparation for the launch.”