Common Sense and Planning for the Development of Human Resources in Higher Education Institutions in PNG

The Higher and Technical Education Reform Act, 2020 is being implemented with appropriate amendments to the PNG Higher Education (General Provisions) Act, 2020 (HEGPA). 

The Reform Act is ensuring that institutions offering post secondary qualifications such as;

1. Church Agency Colleges

2. Teacher and Technical Colleges

3. Nursing Colleges

4. Agricultural and Other Colleges (e.g. Bomana Police College) are transferred to the PNG Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (DHERST) for regulatory oversight.

According to DHERST (2022), this reform will ensure these institutions receive necessary state funding with which they will be required to function at the highest levels of governance, management and operations. Implementing these reforms at institutional levels will require an increase in higher skilled human resources and strategic capacity building plans. 

The following are 'grassroot' thoughts that you may want to consider when designing your Organizational Training and or Staff Development Plans and or Policy. 

When considering a capacity building plan for your institution, take a close look at;

i. Your institutional growth and directive policies (your institutional growth and directive polices must bear alignment to national development goals)

ii. The specific subject (s) for which your institution is to provide training (for training of academic staff). 

*It is your job to know the core function of your organization and the specialties for which your institution is providing post secondary training. 

iii. The skills needed by your staff and the proposed study program. Ensure that they are in alignment to your organizations directives.

iv. The known competency of the human resource (your staff- know your staff) whose professional capacity you are considering to further develop,

v. [ I state this point with much respect.] The age of your staff members, their ability to maintain productivity as an asset to your institution for the long term after they are trained. One of my former bosses told me once that career development should not be a retirement gift. I know its harsh, but it is also very true.  

vi. Your budget, financial implications must be critically considered among other  factors.

 If you are privileged to be receiving funding from multinational corporations for your staff development budget than your organization may have the luxury of sponsoring your staff overseas for qualifications easily obtained locally. If you are part of a higher education institution funded by the PNG Government, your priority will always be your academics and often offshore specialized training as per subject requirements would be necessary.

Be sure to also check in-country for programs available from more established universities and or colleges. Remember, the exposure overseas may be great but not everything your staff learns overseas will be relevant and applicable to your locality. 

Where then would academia be without a functioning administration wing? Administrative up skilling can be sought from any national University. 

PNG University of Natural Resources and Environment's highly competitive and demanded Master of Management Studies program. Please make contact with the administrator of the program at pngunrepostgraduate@gmail.com should you be interested. You can also see the admission requirements at https://www.unre.ac.pg.

Divine Word University's (DWU) Master of Business Administration has also equipped many professional administrators. DWU (2021) lists their MBA program as being offered in collaboration with Macquarie Graduate School of Management of Macquarie University, Australian Catholic University and University of Western Sydney. It is no secret that DWU is known for producing a high quality of graduates from both its undergraduate and postgraduate programs. You may like to explore the admission requirements to this program at https://dwu.ac.pg.

According to PNG University of Technology (Unitech) the home of the Technocrats (2022), they also offers a similar program in partnership with Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) PNG. The joint Unitech and CPA PNG Masters in Business Management is designed to respond to modern employer demands as it provides its graduates with skills that deliver value that is required to navigate in todays global marketplace. See Unitech website for details at https://www.unitech.ac.pg.

An overseas earned Master of Business Administration will not be much of a difference against local programs. How well your jobs get done would depend on the competency level of the staff member (s)  being up-skilled. 

vii. Mode of study - make sure you as the human resources specialist  is well aware of the following definitions - full time study, part-time study, (postgraduate) course work, research

viii. Resource Implications to the institution - when your staff is/are out on training - e.g. Housing -  If the duration of the study is 1-2 years or 4-5 years - will the officer vacate their campus residence to allow their replacement the much needed accommodation thus ensuring a smooth flow of university business? This may be trivial for some organizations and quite significant for others. There is no one-size fits all solution and robust policies and common sense are necessary to navigate herein. 

How competitive and dynamic is the staff member that you want to send for training overseas? 

One way to find out would be to allow your dedicated academic and administrative and professionals seeking overseas upskilling to apply for internationally competitive scholarships to prove their competence.

If they are unable to compete at that level (well at least you have confirmed their competence), be a patriot, keep them motivated, save organizational funding and train locally.

For on-shore post secondary training (if your training budget is in dire straits).

If there is a deserving staff member that should be included in your annual training plan but sadly your budgeted funds cannot fully accommodate, well, seek your training committees and or superiors' wisdom to support the individual to pursue their studies by providing an enabling environment for them administratively (e.g. organize relieving staff). Your organization may make part payment of school fees to enable registration into the desired program of study . Ensure that your staff are aware of the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) for tertiary students both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The PNG government through DHERST is providing an enabling environment for capacity building for its human resources.

Just some thoughts from the Grassroot as we all persevere to develop our Pacific through high performing and quality post secondary educational institutions.