A technical and vocational education training facility, called Pacific Training Institute, was officially opened today at Lae’s 11-Mile.
Construction started in 2019 and came to a conclusion in 2022, where it received its first batch of students.
It was a double celebration for the new institute as they graduated 12 of their second batch of students with national certificate 1 in business administration and heavy equipment fitting.
Operations manager, Edward Buasin, said the parent company of the institute, Pacific Cranes & Engineering, noted the gap in the industry and in an effort to address it, set up the Pacific Training Institute.
“We had options to set it up in Moresby and Madang but we thought it was isolated,” said Buasin.
“We saw that Lae was more central and the facility would be accessible to Highlands students, New Guinea Islands, Momase and Southern Region as well so we opted to invest here and we’ve spent about K1.5 million to set up the facility.”
The trades on offer are heavy equipment fitting, light vehicle mechanic, auto electrical and business administration.
PTI graduated its first batch of nine students, who successfully completed 22 weeks of training, in 2022. The second batch today brings the total number of PTI graduands to 21.
“The issue with us now is that, the institution is operating on the basis of school fees only,” said Buasin.
“We do not get any external support. As such, the fees are high.
“For this year, the fees are K7,300 for all the trades. Business studies is around K4,900. You will find that our fees are higher than government institutions because those institutions do not pay salaries, do not pay for utilities and stuff.
“We have to basically cover the cost of everything to run the place.
“And on top of that, the industry is screaming out for quality. For us to give quality, we need to attract the right kind of people to impart quality to the students that leave this place.
“If the government can come in and partner with us and relieve the parents on the responsibility to pay a huge fee, it would go a long way in helping parents and put through more students.”
The Pacific Training Institute can take up to 70 students per semester.
Officiating at today’s event was Minister for Community Development, Youth and Religion, Jason Peter, who pledged his support by saying Huon Gulf will secure funding to assist the Institute, as well as allocate a certain number of students from the district to take up courses there.