The Education & Training Sectoral Committee of CIMC (Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council) hosted its first meeting of 2023 on Thursday, November 16th at the Lamana Hotel. According to CIMC the meeting aimed to gauge updates on the government’s plans and initiatives in the education sector. Acting Secretary of DHERST, * was among those present. He addressed the quality and standards of in higher education and presented updates on plans implemented to improve higher education in the country. “I established the National School Development Agency with the intention of engaging the private sector into our TAFE and technical colleges and universities.” “The reason being the material and programs taught in these institutions were not relevant to the industry and it was out of date – from the 19th century.” “By law each TAFE or technical college must have people from the industry on the council to influence the policy making and must participate when developing the curriculum.” “Since this was implemented, I am pleased to report that this initiative is working well.” Professor Czuba added that the country is lacking quality high education and has not undergone much upgrade. “The system is supposed to guarantee a lot of quality graduates however, the system of education we inherited since independence is still the same.” “We have the PNG National Qualification Framework but it hasn’t been implemented yet.”