Today, I continue from where I left off last week in regards to the future of our young people (Grade 12 Leavers of 2020) who did not secure spaces in tertiary education in 2021.

I must say it again that is not the end of the world for those who missed out. My appeal to parents and guardians, is not to bother going to knock at the offices of the tertiary institutions to ask for spaces and even consider bribing people to identify spaces for your children.

Sad and wrong but that is what some are attempting to do or will want to do as this has been the case in previous years. Bribing individuals to allocate space for your child in a college or a university is just not the right thing to do. You the parent or guardian must ask yourself the sort of young adult and hopefully a professional you are trying to raise by attempting to bribe people associated with tertiary institutions. Please do not do this. It is not right. It defeats the whole meaning of formal tertiary education and more so honest hard work to gain in life. As they, say there is no free lunch in the world.

I repeat, it is not the end of the world if your child in Grade 12 in 2020 missed out on a spot in a tertiary institution in 2021. There are other opportunities available. Let them upgrade their marks at the many matriculation institutions that offer matriculation programs. It may cost a bit but it is worth the investment.

There are also other private institutions offering basic certificate and diploma courses in a variety of fields including our many TVET vocational centres under the Department of Education in all the provinces nationwide. Why not enroll your child in a TVET program at the vocational centre to make a start. At least the young person is making a start somewhere. Get him or her into some form of training of a skill and start to do something from then on. There are great stories out there of persons who started from scratch and became somebody – a millionaire or a high-flying professional in any field. You child can do the same if you allow him or her to do it. Forget the shame and hurt about your child not making it to university or a college in 2021. Those feelings are human but only temporary. Get your child to do something instead of being upset and attempting to do wrong things like bribing someone to secure space in a tertiary institution.

Having said the above, let me bring our attention to my main message for today. I point us to our traditional customs and ways of life as alternative approaches to what we are unable to achieve through modern education. We, Papua New Guineans are a traditional people, with a rich heritage of values and ways of doing things in life behind us. We learn skills and ways of doing things from observing our parents, grandparents and everyone else around us, in our tribal or clan communities. Our parents and grandparents never attended formal school on how to fish, hunt, do gardening, build houses and make a myriad of arts and crafts. They did it by merely observing their parents, grandparents and others around them. Parents and relatives took their children on hunting, fishing or gardening trips to make them observe and learn. The children were also encouraged to assist in the chores thereby learning to carry out these chores themselves

Our traditional ways was and is a school of hard-knocks but it is also the easiest school to ‘attend’ and learn to do things that matter and sustain our livelihoods.

Fast-forward to 2021 and my appeal to parents and guardians is the following: Please learn something from our traditional ways of imparting knowledge and skills and assist your child who completed Grade 12 last year but did not gain a place in a tertiary institution in 2021.

If you are parent who is into private business, why not employ your child and train him or her in a specific area of your business. What’s the point in being upset with him or her when there is manpower right there under your roof that you can utilize as a trainee in an aspect of your business?

Likewise, if you are a parent or guardian with a specific modern skill and you are working in the same profession, why not train your child or relative at home, after hours. Say you are an electrician, and your child as observed you work while he or she was in school from Grade one up to Grade 12. Why not take him or her under your wings and train him to be an electrician after hours and on weekends?

The same goes for a truck driver or heavy equipment plant operator or any other profession. Get your child to learn those skills you have by observing you or you deliberately training him or her to be a better-educated plant operator. I’m sure someone with a Grade 12 education will be a far superior plant operator and chances of promotion and further education up the ladder in the road construction business or mining industry is there. Plant operators or truck drivers have for so long been considered as something for uneducated or under-educated man. That was before, but today, I would strongly suggest Grade 12 leavers to get in and make a difference. If you are a long serving cook or chef in a hotel and your son or daughter did not gain a place at a university or a college, please train him to be a chef at home and let him or her find a way out.

The potential is massive for parents and guardians who are into business or with modern professional skills and working who can teach their children to get into the same business, trade or profession.

Again, our traditional cultures mentioned above teach us a great moral lesson that we can learn and from and teach our children to follow us. Teach our children the modern skills and knowledge we have at home and let them follow our foot-steps in business or the professions we are in. Some professions like medicine or law requires professional education of course. But build up the interest of your child at home with the skills you have and show them the way. You may be a medical doctor and run a private clinic and drive a car too. Well, teach your child to drive the car and help you with the office errands in your medical practice if he or she has not made it into a university or a college after Grade 12 in 2020.

I hope you get the message: That your child not making into a university and or a college straight after Grade 12 in 2020 does not mean the end of the road. Let us learn the wonderful lessons from our traditional customs and teach our children the skills and knowledge we have to help them get by in life.