HYTARC graduates 33 students in Madang

The Highlands Youth Training and Rehabilitation College graduated more than 30 students in Madang on Thursday with certificates and diplomas in various courses, ranging from Early Childhood Education to Business, IT, Plant Operation and Driving.

The students were mainly from Jiwaka and Madang provinces, who had undergone six to 12 months of certificate and diploma training and three months of short courses like driving.

HYTARC is a registered TVET institution that registers grade 8, 10, and 12 drop-outs, providing them a second chance to become somebody in life.

Operating under the motto, "Making Nobody Become Somebody," HYTARC has graduated more than 22, 000 students in the country since its establishment 25 years ago.

Centre Founder and Director Michael Goro explained that the Madang graduation was specifically arranged for Madang-based students who studied in Port Morseby and Jiwaka but missed out on the graduations there.

"HYTARC has been operating in several provinces and even rural districts where the normal education system can not reach," Goro said. "HYTARC TVET, our motto is giving a second chance in education. Making a Nobody Become Somebody. We've been setting up branches throughout the country, and we've also reached remote areas like.

"Karamui in Simbu and Kovon in the Middle Ramu District where the Education Department can not reach. Some of our graduands are now employed, some are self- employed, and others have moved on to tertiary institutions to further their education."

Goro said some of their students are already working overseas, and by next year, they have a program that will allow their graduands to seek jobs abroad like in Australia.

He said HYTARC has also introduced online studies for students in areas that can not be reached by their trainers.

Goro share HYTARC's success stories, including that of a 'SME mother' [table mama] who has been selling buai and smoke for six years but has gone on to become a bank manager in the Highlands region after attending one of their short courses in business management. The other is now a financial controller with RD Tuna, and the other is an HR recruitment officer, also with RD Tuna.

He said, "HYTARC has a very good track record with a lot of big companies, including RD Tuna, because the students we graduate have very good working attitudes. We don't just teach them, but we also rehabilitate them into better persons, and this prepares them well for employment."

Goro stated that HYTARC is about helping to reduce the number of youths who roam around aimlessly and contribute to the country's law and order problems.

"It is about helping youths find purpose in their lives," he said. "Some of our students have been out of school for five to ten years but have decided to enrol, and some are now occupying managerial positions.

"HYTARC can be a stepping stone for them to higher learning institutions."

He said is no failure in Papua New Guinea, citing the limited spaces in the formal education institutions to be the problem.