A remote TVET institute located in the heart of Kutubu Local Level Government graduated its first batch of 21 electrical students on Thursday, 31st of March.
The graduation ceremony brought guests from the Southern Highlands Provincial Education Board, Mineral Resources Development Company, Advancing PNG Women Leaders Network and communities around Pimaga and Bosavi to witness the first ever graduation ceremony.
‘’The youth will carry on our legacy, they are the next generation of leaders and we must play our part by investing in their future and providing them with a platform to express themselves to drive positive development in our community, said an emotional Pimaga TVET institute Principal and Manager, Warubi Masahimu.
I am very proud to see 21 students graduate with electrical trade certificates. Among the male students, we have two females who braved their way to achieving their goals. We have to be proud of our children’s achievements. This is not theirs only but for us, our family and our community,’’ Mr Masahimu added.
The TVET institute birthed from a youth forum that was held in 2016 in Pimaga station during an International Youth Day (IYD) program sponsored by ExxonMobil.
The IYD is a day used as a youth empowerment advocacy program, an initiative of the Kutubu LLG Council of Youth & Women and supported by Advancing PNG: Women Leaders Network.
In addition, with a strong support system established by the ECPNG Kuige Church, a local leader, Mr Warubi Masahimu, the Kutubu LLG youths, the community, community-based organisations, Oil Search Foundation and Southern Highlands Provincial Education board, the TVET institute was established in 2019.
“We wanted to set the pace to be that model community and initiate projects to benefit our children. Our youth population is well over 12 thousand here in the Kutubu area and, as a chairman, I was worried that there weren’t any opportunities for them. This institute is quite an achievement and first of its kind in the Kutubu area. It has now opened the pathway for our people, youths,” said Steven Farabo, Pimaga TVET Chairman and Kutubu LLG Council of Youth Chairman.
In 2019, Pimaga TVET Institute opened its doors to youths offering trade courses in Electrical, Mechanical and Carpentry Trades. 113 students enrolled and among them were six girls. That same year, the Southern Highlands Provincial Education Board recognized the efforts of the community and its partners and registered the institution.
A fully-fledged registered government institution with six trade skills instructors that provide relevant practical skills, attitudes, knowledge and understanding relating to the skills provided in various sectors of the formal and informal economic and social life of Papua New Guinea.
“We just started the foundation and there is a serious need to train and develop young people in this part of the region. We need dynamic teachers, good students and a supportive community.
“I have big dreams for this school. I would like to see proper infrastructure set up in the coming years. I want to produce quality and skilled students but, most importantly, great leaders. And finally, if God willing and I’m still alive, I’d like to see this school become paperless and move into using cloud-based platforms to educate the young minds,” said Warubi Masahimu.
Mineral Resource Development Company (MRDC) has jumped on board and provided student sponsorship in 2021 and 2022. The only Tertiary Institution in Kutubu is looking forward to more support from MRDC, Santos (Oil Search), ExxonMobil, the Local Level Government, Petroleum Resource Kutubu, the Churches, local Community Based Organizations, NGOs, and its communities to provide the second change opportunity for the youth bulge pushed out of the formal education system.
The school currently enrols students from Pimaga, Mubi Valley and the surrounding villages. However, plans are underway to get students from Lake Side, Bosavi, Poroma or Homa Paua once dormitories are built.
Comments are closed.