Ninety students from the Don Bosco Technical School (DBTS) were offered scholarship opportunities in partnership with TotalEnergies EP PNG (TEP PNG), as operator of the Papua LNG Project.
After the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between DBTS and TEP PNG, the program was rolled out last month with scholarships available to students studying technical trades at the school.
The scholarship also comes with the donation of Information Technology equipment and the program is set to offer spots to a second cohort of 90 students next year.
TEP PNG Managing Director Jean-Marc Noiray stated that the company is excited to partner with another technical institution, to work towards one of the pillars of the National Content strategy of the Project: Workforce Development.
“We support you without any mutual commitment of employment. You do not have to work with us after you graduate, we have no commitment to employ you, which does not mean it will not happen. What we commit is to recommend you to our future contractors, as potential recruits for their operations,” stated Noiray.
In an effort to work towards optimizing opportunities for young Papua New Guineans who may be eligible to roles during the project phase, priority of the scholarship spots will be given to students from the Gulf Province and then extended to other provinces.
He encouraged students to use their educational opportunities to be exemplary community members and register with the WAN PNG job portal once they have graduated from their courses to ensure that their skills are utilized.