579 youths from East New Britain (ENB) Province communities recently graduated from life skills training, coordinated through a program under the Provincial Administration’s Division for Community Development. The graduation program was held on Friday August 16th at the Vunapope Catholic Diocesan Hall in Kokopo, where youths received certificates on baking and cooking, floriculture, screen printing and tie dying, welding and fabrication, brick making and basic auto mechanic. Acting Advisor for the Division for Community Development, Mr. Peter Tutuai, thanked the training providers for equipping the youths with the skills they needed. “The training was conducted by various training providers within different time frames, depending on the nature of the skills. The shortest training was floriculture that took two weeks while hard skills training like brick laying took three months,” he said. Speaking on behalf of ENB Provincial Administrator, Acting Deputy Provincial Administrator for Corporate Services, John Talele, said that spaces at the various educational institutions are very limited and that many students are left out. “We have our resources in the community, but if we lack the skills then the resources will be nothing. Training like this will empower youths to use and utilize the skills they have acquired at the community level,” said Mr. Talele. He further congratulated the graduands for undergoing the training which will help them to have a better life in the future. “Most SMEs are managed by students that graduated from Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) centers and not universities. More youths must take part in programs like this to empower them to have a meaningful life.” Meanwhile, representing the Provincial Member as a Church rep in the Provincial Assembly, Pastor Tony Kivung said that ENB’s vision is for the province to be peaceful, safe and secure where people will be wise, healthy and prosperous. “Our mission is to empower our people to be self-reliant and self-sufficient in order to develop their own communities. We want to see self-sufficiency and self-reliance in the province.” He also encouraged the youths to write their own story by utilizing the skills they have learnt in the communities. In addition to this, Kokopo City Lord Mayor, Philip Tale said that as the city is growing and developing, law and order issues are also growing rapidly; therefore, such youth trainings like this will help in reducing lawlessness.