08 April 2014
More automotive trade training places for Papua New Guineans
An extra 180 automotive trade training places for Papua New Guineans will be created at a new National Automotive Training Centre to be built in Port Moresby.
Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Brett Mason, will attend a ground breaking ceremony for the centre at the Australia Pacific Technical College today.
“Automotive skills – as with all the areas of study at the college – are in great demand and are essential for the growing economy of PNG,” Senator Mason said.
“Australia is very pleased to be supporting PNG in the up-skilling of its workforce, and improving employment opportunities both domestically and internationally.”
“The college shows what can be achieved when governments, development partners, employers and higher learning institutions combine the best that each has to offer, leading to internationally recognised trade qualifications for students and national developments for PNG and the Pacific region.”
“This means graduates with Australian-recognised trade and service qualifications can work in a wide range of vocational careers throughout the Pacific.”
The college’s partners are the Port Moresby Technical College (POMTECH), Hastings Deering in Port Moresby, Digara Construction Services and the Coral Seas Hotels. The new National Automotive Training Centre is a joint collaboration between the college and POMTECH.
A large workshop space and six large classrooms will provide for the delivery of competency-based automotive mechanical, auto-electrical and diesel fitting training programs. Australia will provide approximately K1.1 million towards the Government of Papua New Guinea’s K4.5 million project, which is expected to be completed in September 2014.
Funded by the Australian Government, the Australia Pacific Technical College has campuses in PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu providing courses to students from 14 Pacific countries.
Since 2007 a total of 1246 Papua New Guineans including 332 females have graduated across a range of trade, hospitality, health and community services programs. Papua New Guineans are supported to travel to other Pacific campuses to study a range of other programs not offered in PNG