Business skills training helps people find jobs

Source: The National, Wednesday 22nd Febuary 2012

MANY people who take part in a basic business skills training have gone on to find employment in the private sector, an official said.
Some have used the knowledge they have gained by improving their small businesses.
The latest batch of 120 graduated last week at Joyce Bay, Sabama, Port Moresby – thanks to the Digicel PNG Foundation.
Yumi Lukautim liaison officer Lawrence Martin said 70% of the 800 people who participated in Ginigoada’s basic business skills training had gone on to do job training in various organisations and subsequently retained as permanent employees.
“You have been at the crossroads and Digicel Foundation and Ginigoada have shown you the way.
“The decision is yours – if you plant a seed and neglect it, it won’t flourish.
“With the basic business skills that you have acquired within the two weeks of training, go and plant a seed, nurture it and it will flourish,” he said.
 Martin encouraged them to stay focused and use the certificates to their benefit.
Speaking on behalf of the graduates, course participant Dorothy Lua said: “We have learned so much in these past two weeks.
“I am a mother who has a market stall and the money I make all goes to buying food for my family.
“Before undertaking this training, I had no knowledge of budgeting and the importance of saving in case of an emergency.
“I have learnt the importance of budgeting and saving and I am ready to put that into practice and improve my life and that of my family.”
Dorothy was also proud to notice the changes at the Joyce Bay community since the inception of the training.
In the past two weeks, she said youths there had changed their ways after taking part in the business  course.
“I used to walk down the street and youths would throw beer bottles and swear and often would get drunk and fight,’’ she said.
“During and after the training, nothing like this has happened.”

Firm puts out quiz product

Source: The National - Friday, October 28th 2011

By STEPHANIE BAWO
A LOCAL company has introduced a new and alternative learning product for students and people in Papua New Guinea.
During the launching of the Think Tank Quiz programme yesterday in Port Moresby, company director John Kama said the product was a breakthrough in new and alternative learning outside schools that involved school children and adults.
He said with the change in time and development, children were losing interest in the kind of lessons been presented in the classroom. So he developed this concept of quizzing or debating using computer technology.
Kama said its intention was to educate and improve a person’s cognitive development in a fun and entertaining way by quizzing their general knowledge while rewarding them financially.
He said learning did not stop when one left school but was life-long.
And with the introduction of the product he believes it would benefit lives by way of transforming what they had learnt into producing results for them in whatever they did.
Kama said the quiz product was the first of its kind in the country and was specially intended to support the literacy programmes of schools.
The Think Tank Quiz programme is similar to Channel Nine’s “Who wants to be a millionaire” show with three categories for each level of education from primary for Grades 1 to 8, secondary for Grades 9 to 12 and tertiary for higher education students and adults.
Assistant secretary in the curriculum and assessment division of the Education Department Dr Eliakim Apelis said it addressed some areas of universal basic education by providing basic and quality education for children.
He said it was good to see people who had gained education and were working overseas come back and be agents of change.
Port Moresby Grammar School Grade 11 student Shimona Ipah said the product was a brilliant idea that provided an alternative source of learning she could engage in during her free time

Free education to cost K900m

Source: Post Courier, Wednesday 12 October, 2011
By BOLA NOHO


THE Government will fund its free education policy at the cost of K900 million next year, the Governor for National Capital District, Powes Parkop revealed yesterday.
He said another K600 million would be added on top of K300 million already set aside for implementing free education policy next year.
While opening a new building complex for six classrooms at the Ward Strip Demonstration Primary School, he yesterday said the Government was serious with the education of the country.
The free education next year will be for the students from elementary schools up to Grade 12 while the fees for the students in tertiary institutions would be subsidised.
“The government has made this bold decision because it believes in investing in the education of the people who will then transform the country,” he said. He said one of the interventions the government could think of would do was to invest in education that would transform the country.
Mr Parkop said the government allocated K300 million to start implementing the policy in January next year with another K600 million to come in later in the year. He said for the past years, a lot of money had been spent but less had been achieved so far that was why they changecd the government.
“We as a government we are trying to create more spaces for all the children, especially the out of school children running around in the villages to enrol,” he said.
He said with free education policy, the government was looking at creating more spaces for more enrolments for the children who were not going to school.
Mr Parkop said they were thinking positive now for their children how best they could take those children running around in the villages out of illegal activities they may engage in the future.
He said the Universal Basic Education (UBE) was declared to have all children educated therefore all children in PNG should be educated.
“To achieve UBE for all its people, the government has to invest more in education,” he said. Mr Parkop said this world was becoming modernised and for people to survive would be to educate them.

Plan for a lifetime, educate the people

Source: yutok, Post Courier, Friday October 7, 2011

THERE’S a Chinese proverb; “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people”
The moral regulation of behaviour has been necessary to the group’s well-being. Although morals were formalised and made into arbitrary standards of conduct, they developed, sometimes irrationally, after religious taboos were violated; out-of-chance behaviour that became habit and then custom; or from laws imposed by chiefs to prevent disharmony in their tribes. Even the great ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilisations developed no systematised ethics; maxims set down by secular leaders, such as Ptahhotep, mingled with a strict religion that affected the behaviour of every Egyptian. In ancient China, the maxims of Confucius were accepted as moral code. The philosophical position summarised as follows; virtue is knowledge; people will be virtuous if they know what virtue is; and vice, or evil, is the result of ignorance. Thus, education as to what constitutes virtue can make people moral. And not the least, believing that the intellectual nature is superior to the sensual nature and that the best life is one devoted to mental discipline founded with rules emphasising simplicity in speech, dress, and food.
The principles that govern human life must be fundamental on every point to fulfill life’s purpose. And what principles do you apply to fulfill the purpose of your life in existence for the common good of all? GOD Bless PNG.

Ovia Morea - Goroka

Polye says education is vital

Source: Home News, Post Courier, September 22,  2011

He said this was because they had worked so hard “without partaking in the benefits of the much trumpeted economic growth and prosperity”.
The second sector to receive the highest allocation is infrastructure with K230.8 million, followed by Health – K109.5 million, contractual obligations K94.5 million, agriculture – K22 million and law and order – K20 million.
During debate Mr Polye defended the allocation to the education sector saying it was not an intended “populist” policy as claimed by critics but the right of children.
“Education is critical if we are to develop a well trained and highly skilled workforce to meet the needs of the modern economy, and so that more Papua New Guineans can enjoy the benefits of employment,” he said.
He said the supplementary budget was balanced due to the projected expenditure equal to the projected revenue.
He also called it responsible, saying it took into consideration the high level of activity in the domestic economy, private sector constrained capacity and volatility of commodity prices.
He warned of the growth of the inflation in line with the strong growth in the domestic economy.
“To avoid very high rates of inflation, coordinated and better management of fiscal and monetary policies are necessary,” Mr Polye said.
“In this regard allocating funds to areas that will not add further fiscal stimulus immediately is considered most appropriate at this time.”
Mr Polye said the budget would use trust fund accounts to pre-fund critical development expenditure programs outlined under the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP).
He added due to technical delays in the 2011 development budget, implementation of certain projects totalling K116 million had now been re-appropriated into other key areas.
“Unlike the previous government the O’Neill-Namah government will deliver improvements in the rural economy by ensuring funding is allocated to the right areas by being transparent and accountable and by weeding out corruption in the system,” Mr Polye said.
“This is a supplementary budget of hope, for the future families of PNG, for our children.”