Sustainable energy courses will be offered in the first semester of 2021 to support Tonga’s ambitious targets in achieving 70% renewable energy by 2030.

Certificate courses will be delivered by the Tonga Institute of Science and Technology and include Renewable Energy subjects looking at solar, wind, biogas, and hydro, and energy efficiency, energy audits, minimum energy performance standards and energy conservation.

Paea Tauaika from the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (PCREEE) said today, in order to achieve Tonga’s renewable energy target, there is a need to build the national expertise and capacity to design, plan and maintain these systems.

“Therefore, the need to have recognized, accredited qualifications.”

The national qualification for the four certificate levels builds on the regional qualification framework under the the Pacific Community Education Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP) supported by the Pacific Community (SPC) and funded by its EU-PacTVET regional program to be implemented within the Pacific region.  

He said Tonga is the first among 15 Pacific Island Countries to convert the regional qualification and register its own national qualification.

Secondary schools with TVET programmes can apply to TNQAB for accreditation to deliver the Sustainable Energy qualification Certificate level 1 and 2.

Secondary school students can enrol at TIST for Certificate levels 3 and 4 in Tonga for two years, and the student can further pursue a Diploma in Energy abroad, unless Level 5 is added to the national qualifications.

Earlier this month, the Minister for Education and Training, Hon Siaosi Sovaleni said the national qualification is crucial for pursuing our energy and climate change targets. 

More importantly, it will provide pathways for the youths of Tonga to get accredited qualifications and open up opportunities for jobs locally and abroad too. These are lasting impacts you should keep in mind as we jointly strive to recover from the current pandemic, said the Minister.