By FRANCIS RODNEY PULU
AS part of his investment in human resource, Southern Highlands Governor, William Powi is refocusing to his initial plan back in 2017 of training 400 skilled workers from the province.
Powi said out of these 400 workers, about 100 will be for General Nursing (GN) and Community Health Workers (CHW) while the other 300 will be for the labor mobility unit in Australian and New Zealand.
The Governor highlighted that this was his initial plan in 2017 but was hindered by the violence during the 2017 National General Election and also the massive 7.5 magnitude earth quake that shook his province in 2018.
He said in 2020, about 7,000 school leavers were identified and out of this about 4,500 were provided training from the five districts of the province.
Powi said this was a greater achievement by the Provincial Government because the approach was to make “nobody become somebody” including giving a second chance in education.
He said the investment has benefited students from across the five districts and that has already translated into tangible results.
The Governor said more are coming through the process to benefit as he maintains his stand to groom technically skilled professions including the pool of 60 GN and 40 CHW to undergo training and graduate by 2025.
“These trainers will be recalled to do their practical in our health centers and hospitals in the five districts of Southern Highlands,” he said.
Powi added that as part of the health workers’ commitment, they will take up positions in serving the Southern Highlands people in the health sector for three years.
He further said that with the labor mobility unit, the 300 youths will be dispatched to Australia and New Zealand as seasonal workers.
“The first batch of 100 youths will be this month followed by others in June, and the final batch in October,” he said.
Meanwhile, Powi thanked the training providers in the technical vocational education and training sector in training the 4,500 workers in institutions like the Mapex Training Institute, Kumul Training Institute, Commercial Training Institute, Highlands Youth Rehabilitation Training College, Kingu Training Centre and other who assisted the Provincial Government to train these students.
