By Sally Tiwari
There is enormous demand for vocational qualifications in Papua New Guinea and demand will continue increasing as resources come on-stream, Phil Oakley says.
Oakley, the newly appointed manager for International Education Agency TAFE, said many employers in PNG were now looking for international standard qualifications.
He said TAFE was able to offer Australian and PNG qualifications across a wide range of disciplines, including information technology, business and finance.
Oakley has extensive experience working in developing countries, including eight years in PNG, six years in Malawi, six years in Indonesia, and until recently, held a senior management role with Queensland’s TAFE.
He said the progression of TAFE into vocation education seven years ago was a natural one as they saw the need to offer an alternate practical pathway to secondary school leavers who were ineligible for universities.
He said TAFE provided competency-based training with the aim of making every graduate an attractive proposition for an employer.
TAFE has 22 schools around the country and is in its 35th year of operation.
Oakley said TAFE was keen on increasing its relationship with its industry partners because of their support towards TAFE through employment of its graduates.
He said since his arrival they had resurrected all their courses and now offered these over a six-month period.
He said that meant they were able to able to reduce tuition fees.