Training Standards

For P-Ng Technicians

Sir, —Your April issue contains an article on educational TV in New Guinea which unfairly refers to training standards of technicians in the Posts and Telegraphs College, Port Moresby, by saying that it “has produced only a handful of graduates and then only with special coaching and lowered examination standards”.

There is no doubt in my mind, and that of qualified observers, that the graduation standard of technicians, both radio and telephone, at this college is equal to the graduation standard of their Australian mainland counterparts.

This was confirmed by a Com monwealth Postmaster-General’s pro fessional training expert who visited

the Territory last year, and also the Commission on Higher Education who thoroughly examined training standards during 1962 and 1963. The Commission on Higher Education in its report made this reference to the college: “Although in general the Com mission is averse to the prolifera tion of separate ‘schools’ by Administration Departments, with their concomitants of duplication in the teaching of basic subjects and often lack of continuity in policy and staffing, it yet after due consideration recommends that the Department of Posts and Telegraphs should continue to train its own personnel in view of its special needs and techniques and the high standard it has main tained.”

The report also recommends that he Posts and Telegraphs College train echnicians for the private radio ndustry as well as other organisa ions in the telecommunications field.

It is agreed that the number of echnicians who have graduated from he college so far has not been many.

Since technician training commenced n 1960 it has been possible to ecruit only 61 technician trainees md of these, sixteen have graduated nine as radio technicians), and 23 emain in training. To date 22 rainees have failed to make the ?rade at various stages of training md have taken up training in less lemanding fields.

The technician training course at he Posts and Telegraphs College is )f five years’ duration; the first three 'ears of which are spent full-time it the college and the remaining two 'ears 50 per cent, on-the-job, under he supervision of instructors.

The Department has never been ible to recruit the number of rainees it has desired; the reason or this being the lack of sufficiently ducated school leavers available and nterested in training for a career, he remuneration of which is small in omparison with occupations which, it present in the Territory, require 10 higher educational entry standards •r greater periods of training but iffer a much higher remuneration on ;raduation.

Given the number of suitably lualified trainee recruits, there is no loubt that the Posts and Telegraphs raining College, Port Moresby, pould be able to train suffcient echnicians to international standards o meet departmental as well as eneral radio industry requirements.

W. F. Carter,

Director, department of Posts nd Telegraphs, 'ort Moresby, P-NG,