Prosperity through education

Listen to this article:

Commercial Floriculture student_Corrina Malifa works on her Xmas decoration project. Picture: SUPPLIED

A TOTAL of 162 villagers from the districts of Itu’tiu and Oinafa in Rotuma recently completed and graduated from a two-week training on basic practical skills.

They were graduates of Fiji National University’s (FNU) Sustainable Livelihood Project (SLP) training program focussed on technical and vocational trainings.

The Sustainable Livelihood Project training is offered through FNU’s National Training and Productivity Centre’s (NTPC) Non-Formal Division.

The Sustainable Livelihood Project is a Fiji Government initiative set-up five years ago to promote development in rural and maritime communities through technical and vocational trainings.

The primary objective of the project is to train and empower rural communities and villages with basic practical skills and knowledge that are relevant and necessary to their immediate and future needs.

Chief Guest at the Itu’tiu district graduation ceremony Gagaj Iroa reminded the new graduates that learning never stops, encouraging them to pursue higher education and to share their knowledge with fellow villagers.

He also encouraged them to put their newly acquired knowledge and skills into practice and assist with the development of the island.

“Education is for all. There is no age limit to learning nor is there one that says learning comes to an end at a certain age. This was a great opportunity to learn new skills or a trade.

“Thank you FNU and the SLP team for coming out to teach our young and old participants new skills that will help them in their own homes and villages,” said Gagaj Iroa during the graduation event held at Motusa village.

About 99 students graduated from the Itu’tiu District and 63 in the Oinafa District.

Motusa villager Corrina Malifa could not hold back her excitement as she received her Certificate of Attainment in Commercial Floriculture.

The Year 13 Rotuma High School Agriculture Science student has set her sights on becoming an Agricultural Officer in the future.

“The Commercial Floriculture programme was an eye opener for me. Through the two weeks programme, I learnt about floral arrangements, pottery making, using the natural resources around me to make flower vases,” said the excited Malifa.

“These techniques, are seen only on social media but I was lucky enough to learn them here. I can work on setting or decorating a stage for events. I have a keen interest in Agricultural studies. I have applied to FNU’s College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and hope to enrol after the results are released.”

Basic Cookery and Patisseries graduate Elizabeth Mattner said the training was beneficial as she learnt a lot of new skills.

“I love to bake with my mum. I wanted to learn more in cake decorations and other areas of baking and pastry making, which I did.  Looking forward to trying out what I learnt in the classes. Hopefully there’s another round of training in the future,” Mattner said.

In the Oinafa District, Screen Printing graduate Tanya Atalifo was thrilled with her achievement as she always had a keen interest in designing.

The 14-year-old Rotuma High School student said such trainings will greatly benefit those who were unemployed as it would their skills and help them acquire a trade.

“I love designing and found interesting techniques in making stencils based on designs, how to place the stencils and materials to get the perfect prints. Another interesting area was the types of materials we can work with,” Atalifo said.

NTPC’s Deputy Director Non-Formal Education Akisi Mavoa said the up-skilling objective was to equip Fijians with skill sets intended to improve their livelihood to a sustainable level.

“We wish for all participants to remember that this training is to improve their livelihood. By utilizing their skill-sets to improve their families’ livelihood, their village needs through the appropriate use of their various skill-sets,” said Mavoa.

“The opportunities out there are real, and plentiful and it takes courage and perseverance to get on to becoming a role player and it could start with the SLP Certificate and the Training that one has accomplished here at Motusa and Oinafa.”

 

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 29
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category