Technical school opens in Inauaia village

INAUAIA village in Mekeo, Central, has taken a leap forward with the opening of a new technical and vocational training school.
The Eco-Pacific Tourism School, which brings skills-based training to the local community, was opened by Tourism Arts and Culture Minister Emil Tammur on Friday.
The first batch of 60 students graduated with certificates in tourism and various other courses including motor mechanics and PMV driving.
A double-classroom school was funded by the Tourism Promotion Authority at a cost of K50,000, with another K50,000 pledged by Tammur.
School founder Alphonse Foimae, a qualified tourism trainer, said he started the institution in Port Moresby in 2015.
“We had an office in town but then it didn’t work out,” he said.
“We still, however, believed in the idea of tourism training and it’s taken us almost five years to achieve this.”
Foimae said he approached TPA chief executive officer Jerry Agus with the idea of the school and was allocated funding of K50,000.
“We have just graduated our first intake of students after three months of training, and we are looking at our second intake in May,” he said.
“We have 60 students for this first intake.”
Foimae said course fees were much cheaper than that offered in Port Moresby.
Given that it is in a village setting, he said, students could also pay their fees with betel nuts or pigs which were later sold by the school.
“We allow them to pay K100 or K200 just to come in,” Foimai said.
“If they can’t pay that, some of the students bring in betel nuts or pigs to pay for their school fees.
“It’s more community-oriented.
“This is the first of its kind in Papua New Guinea.”
Foimai said the school was focused on tourism training with other courses in logistics, aviation management, secretarial, human resources management, occupational health and safety, computing, PMV driving, light auto mechanics and small business.
Professional and retired professional people from Inauaia run the courses which are attended mostly by school leavers in the village, and young people from as far away as Port Moresby.