THE Government has invested K300 million in infrastructure at universities and other tertiary institutions throughout the country in the last five years.
Outgoing Secretary for Department of High Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof David Kavanamur said the investment since 2006 had greatly enhanced quality and improved access in the sector. Speaking at the farewell function of Minister Francis Marus, Kavanamur said during this term they had developed an issue matrix that saw a number achievements including the establishment of the department, Higher Education General Provisions Act 2014, the establishment of the Western Pacific University in Ialibu and the first ever corporate plan 2015-2017. The department has also developed a national higher and technical education plan 2014-2024 and a set of university governance manuals, and established the Science Technology Secretariat. “I’m also pleased that over the years, we have been able to build capacity where there are about seven staff who graduated with masters mainly with MBAs from the University of PNG as well as well as overseas with two degree qualifications, three diploma qualifications and four still undergoing masters training,” Kavanamur said. “Through these collaborative efforts with the department, the sector was, for the first time, able to enrol 10,000 freshmen this year. “We used to take in only about 5000 in the previous years, now there is about 100 per cent jump. “This was due to the capacity that we built in the colleges like Port Moresby Technical College and the establishment of IBS University as well. “We were also able to improve accommodation issues at our higher education institutions in the country. “Now the higher education institutions can accommodate more students on campus and this is attributed to the O’Neill Government’s continuous (reign) and a key decision they made to allocate funds directly to the department for colleagues. “I’m very thankful to the minister for providing the leadership and providing that cover for us at the time that we needed it most. “I would also like to thank my staff in the department who have worked tirelessly and have actually gone out of their way to develop their skills and competencies to take the department forward.” The National
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