Gabutu, Port Moresby: Caritas PNG in collaboration with the National Catholic Education Secretariat (NCES) and Social Communications Commission (SOCOM) of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNGSI, recently hosted the first ever Tech Talk commemorating the World Youth Skills Day on July 15 at Don Bosco Technical School, Gabutu.
Panelists from Supply Side…Fr Lawrence Arockiaraj (left) and Br Antony Swamy (right)
More than 100 students and teachers from Don Bosco Technological Institute; Don Bosco Technical School; Maino Heduru TVET School; La Salle Technical Secondary School; Mary Help of Christians Technical TVET and FODE Centre and Caritas Technical Secondary School were in attendance. Others in attendance included the media, invited guests and partners including the Building Community Engagement Program (BCEP).
The event featured a panel discussion divided into two sessions, bringing together technical education service providers and industrial recruiters.
Fr. Lawrence Arockiraj, Commission Secretary for National Catholic Education and Br. Antony Swamy of La Salle PNG and Principal of La Salle Technical Secondary School who were panellists for the first discussion, raised points on the challenges faced by technical education service providers.
“We also have limited specialized teachers to teach the specific trades, making it difficult to train our students well in certain high demand technical fields. There is also the struggle of government support but as teachers and institutions, we should not only be seeking government assistance but have other resources to sustain our schools while waiting for funding.” stated Fr. Lawrence.
He mentioned that the Catholic Church was well established in PNG and urged the government to work side by side with the church for effective discussions and measures to address issues faced by technical institutions.
Br. Antony stressed on the limited pathways to attain teaching resources to train students in technical courses and lack of personnel to teach as even though there were trained teachers many of whom had ventured into industrial opportunities. He also added that that there were not enough technical colleges to meet the requirements of the demand of skilled personnel in technical industries in the country.
“The idea of thinking technical schools are “second category” should also be removed from the minds of young people. Getting into technical education and TVET gives a better opportunity for young people to get jobs as these are people on high demand in the industries,” he said.
The second session included representatives from Josien Training & Consultancy, Steamships Trading Company, Coral Sea Hotels, and Total Energies who represented the demand side.
Ms. Mary-Anne Reen from Total Energies said the projected expansion of PNG’s resource sector in companies will indeed create significant demands of various technical skills in the country such as maritime workers; communication and ICT; construction workers; geotechnical officers and logistics operators among others.
Answering to what recruiters look for in graduating students, Mr. Joe Kavatpuo, CEO of Josien Training & Consultancy and an Alumni of Don Bosco highlighted the formation received at a Catholic institution apart from academic and skills training, that have now played an important role in shaping his value systems and character as an individual. He said recruiters will want reliable, honest, punctual and committed employees and learning that in school was an advantage.
Steamships Talent Manager Human Resources, Ms. Natasha Austin challenged the students to take advantage of the trends of the times and market their skills and talents. She encouraged the students to be self-reliant and learn to find out information for themselves as managers want to employ people who are committed to learning and do not always depend on the organizations to provide the trainings for them.
Ms. Judith Thomas, HR Business Partner for Coral Sea Hotels, a subsidiary of Steamships Trading Company, challenged the schools not to expect organizations or industries to reach out to them for opportunities but for schools and teachers to contact managers and seek partnership for On-the-Job trainings for their students. She further stated that every year a demand for people in the industries increases and highlighted how hotels do need students from the hospitality and tourism trade to boost their capacities.
The program ended with a Q&A session.
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