A new partnership between the National Fisheries Authority and the Department of Education will include the Fisheries education program for the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the national education system.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding took place in Port Moresby on Monday Dec 21.
The program will be taught in collaboration with the National Fisheries College (NFC) which will foster the provision of training opportunities and offer assistance to facilitate and develop a high quality fisheries training program.
Acting Secretary for Education Dr Uke Kombra said the program would create more skilled Papua New Guineans who should make a living for themselves and at the same time also contribute to the economic development of the country.
Dr Kombra said the idea for fisheries training came about from the fisheries training needs analysis that was conducted in 2011. The results indicated that all vocational training centres in maritime provinces had no set curriculum for fisheries related courses.
“Some vocational centre trainers sought support from the National Fisheries College to teach the fisheries programs in their institutions.
“As a result of this, the NFC on advice from the Fisheries Training Advisory Committee and with assistance with the department established a standard fisheries curriculum for selected TVET institutions to use,” says Dr Kombra.
He said the department is looking forward to implementing the agreement with the NFA and the curriculum division of TVET which will be the implementing agency for the execution of the fisheries training programs.
The signing was witnessed by NFA Managing Director John Kasu and his staff and other officers from the department of education.