New technical training institute opens [1]
Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 10:00. Updated on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 17:33.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 1, March 2003.
Tonga’s newest technical training institute, the Vocational and Technical Institute of Tonga opened its doors for classes on Monday March 10.
The director and the owner of the Institution, ‘Etuate Lavulavu, a member of parliament, said at the end of February that the enrolment at the school had reached 300, “but there is no limit to the number of students we can take, it is our responsibility to offer vocational and technical training for the youth of Tonga.”
The enrolment fee is $50, and applicants sit a placement test to decide entry into course levels. Level One is for Form 7 graduates who have New Zealand Bursary passes. Level Two courses are offered for those who have passed their Tonga School Certificate examination or have completed Form 5. Level Three studies are designed for those who dropped out from High School. There are also tuition fees and courses fees to be paid.
‘Etuate said that when the school opens its door in March they would offer 16 courses, including General Masonry, Cooking, Catering and Sewing.
‘Etuate is renting the Lavengamalie Ex-students Building at Tofoa for his main administration building and to house two main lecturing rooms, “but I have made arrangements with Lavengamalie to rent their classrooms for our evening and Saturday classes.” ‘Etuate said that this was the most cost effective way to run an educational institution. He has tapped into a pool of retired teachers and he said he would also hire teachers from other schools, and professional people to teach part-time.
However, while ‘Etuate was looking forward with enthusiasm to the opening of his institution, the Director of Education, Kula (Viliami Takao) said that a decision had yet to be made on ‘Etuate’s application to run an educational institute. He said that there was a set of requirements, in the Education Act that an institution must fulfil before it was allowed to operate, and assessors from the Ministry of Education had been to the institution to ascertain that they would abide by the rules and regulations.
Kula said that ‘Etuate’s application was unusual in the sense that he only approached them in January, for the school to start in March. “Normally an application is lodged with us about a year before the due date for institution to begin operation.” Kula said there were a number of issues to look at carefully, “the curriculum, the teachers, the financial background of the school, and to make sure that any qualification that will be awarded by the institution is recognised both nationally and overseas.”
Kula pointed out the differences between a vocational training institution and a commercial enterprise that offered training courses and then awarded certificates. “These commercial enterprises get their business licences from the Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Industries, and then can offer two or three week courses and then present certificates, but with a vocational training institution it is different and more complex.”
Kula said a vocational institution was currently being built by the Catholic Church and was due to be opened before the end of the year. “We have been working with them during the past few months, making sure that…in the end they will have a recognised institution.”
When we went to press in early March the VTIT had began operations but it is understood that some of the Ministry of Education requirements had yet to be fulfilled by ‘Etuate Lavulavu.