Nabilah S
Samoa’s economy will benefit from the work of 217 new graduates who have finished technical and vocational programs from the Australia Pacific Training Coalition and earned Australian-standard certifications. (APTC).
On March 16, 2023, there was a graduation ceremony in Apia to honor the graduates, who included more than 100 women and three adults with impairments.
Staff from the Samoa Police, Prisons and Corrections Services, the Samoa Tourism Authority, the Samoa Qualifications Authority, the National University of Samoa, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Samoa Water Authority, the Electric Power Corporation, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were also among the graduates.
In his keynote speech, Minister for Education, Sports, and Culture Afioga Honourable Seuula Ioane Tuaau thanked the graduates and encouraged them to use their new degrees and talents as part of Samoa’s developing workforce.
“Gaining new skills and knowledge is a big part of making sure that our people can keep getting new opportunities, become more employable, and help the country grow,” he said.
The Minister talked a lot about the women who graduated, seven of whom got certificates in the building and plumbing trades.
You are examples of other women who might wish to go into the same field. I’m sure you’ll use your skills to help our communities become more socially and economically stable.”
He thanked Australia for helping to enhance the national Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector, which gives Samoans a chance to get high-quality degrees and useful training to help them get and keep jobs and make a living.
Claire McGeechan, the Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Samoa, thanked the graduates for their hard work in school and wished them luck as they started new parts of their professional lives.
Education isn’t simply a way for people to reach their full potential; it’s also a way for whole communities to improve. “What you do today will help you and your family get ahead, but it will also help your country get ahead,” she told them.
She also talked about APTC’s partnerships with the National University of Samoa (NUS), Nuanua O Le Alofa (NOLA), and the Samoa Qualifications Authority (SQA) to promote high-quality, inclusive, and relevant TVET in Samoa.
Such partnerships help reach the goals of Samoa’s Education Sector Plan, which focuses on growing the national TVET sector to meet education and skills needs, especially in the sectors most affected by COVID-19,” she said.
Two people with disabilities got their Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways (FSK20119) through the APTC-NOLA partnership, while one got their Certificate I in Construction. (CPC10120).
The happy graduates took classes in areas like construction, plumbing, skills for work and vocational pathways, commercial cooking, hospitality, air conditioning and refrigeration, electrotechnology technician, engineering – pfabrication trade, light vehicle mechanical technology, applied fashion design and technology, education support, community services, tourism, international skills training (IST), leadership and management, and more.6
Australia has helped more than 18,000 people get trained by APTC, including more than 2200 Samoans. The latest graduates will join this group.
