The Port Moresby Technical College recently had it’s 60th graduation on the 27th March, 2024 at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, PNG. The graduation theme at the was “Investing and Empowering Our Graduates with High Quality, Innovative Employable Business and Technical Skills to meet Industry Business Needs in the 21st Century.” (Source: https://www.postcourier.com.pg/pom-technical-college-introduce-advance-programs/ )
Image 2: A Graduating Class from the Port Moresby Technical College. (Source: https://pomtechnicalcollege.com/?page_id=85 )
This theme coincides with the recent introduction of Diploma courses in SME Accounting, SME Business Management and Customs Brokerage at the Technical College. These courses, combined with the technically and trades-oriented courses, look to equip students with the knowledge to monetize there technical/trades knowledge with the business management and Accounting and Business Management knowledge.
Imagine a Mechanic who has graduated from Pom Tech who has the knowledge and competencies of the current SME business environment to start their own Motor Mechanic business that can one day grow into a fully fledged business that can compete with the multinational owned Motor Mech businesses in the country in the future? This is the possible outcome of combining these SME business courses with Trades oriented roles.
But then there may be some factors that can impede the achievement of this goal, and a big one would be due to the unavailability of start-up capital required to commence a Trades/Technical SME Business, utilizing the qualifications obtained from Pom Tech.
This was elaborated in a recent post on LinkedIn by the page, PNG TVET Agenda, but more summarized in this paragraph from the post: “The only hindrance I foresee is the starting capital. Most TVET graduates come from rural families whose income is through subsistence farming. As such, even with the energy, the resources such as land accompanied with a certificate, without the vital funding, such thoughts will remain a dream.” (Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/png-tvet-agenda_sme-and-tvet-there-are-many-motivations-to-activity-7183921330164047872-i6UV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop ).
Image 4: Port Moresby Technical Students on an OJT assignment with Remington Group. (Source: https://remingtongrouppng.com.pg/news-category/remington-news/ )
It is our strong belief that in order to obtain the capital required to start off a business, one must obtain a job first, in this case, with the Trade Qualifications one obtains from a Technical College such as Pom Tech. Once employment is obtained, one must put aside funding from fortnightly wages & salaries to build enough seed capital to set the business. And the key to obtaining employment is to know the basics of effective job seeking methods and techniques.
Jobs need to be seen by our future Trades Folk not only has an avenue to build a career but also seen as an investment opportunity: Your savings, your superannuation, your bonuses, they’re all generated from the wages and salaries and efforts to meet targets which can fund the seed capital required to start your SME Business.
Image 5: Boys from the Port Moresby Technical College preparing to celebrate PNG’s Independence Day. (Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=704135731734687&set=a.456662663148663 )
The PNG Recruiter is very excited to hear about Pom Tech offering courses on SME Management & Accounting as we’ve always envisioned a Trade Workforce that is equip with Business, Finance and even Technological knowledge to be dynamic enough to create locally owned and managed Trades Businesses in the future that can add value to various businesses in PNG, like the lucrative mining, oil & gas sector, for example.
This is important today as we see a decline in the PNG Economy, producing the future business men and women of Trades related organizations is a must to diversify PNG’s revenue generating opportunities, which will hopefully turn our economy around.
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