A one-day career expo was conducted on Lihir Island recently by Lihir Union of Students.
The one-day expo was held on the 12th of January 2023 targeting students especially in secondary school level with the hope of preparing them for tertiary level.
The Lihir Union of Students is made up of students from all tertiary institutions within the country, students from UPNG, DWU, UOG, IBS, Polytech, Teacher colleges and Nursing colleges all came together and held that one-day career expo on Lihir Island.
Under the theme “Accelerate the Journey towards Lihir Destiny through the Development of Human Resource Capital”, the program was focused on providing information on how students could follow their career pathways and achieve their goals, said Lihir Union of Students Acting President Miss Latisha Labongis.
It was held at the Londolovit Meri Development Center and was attended by secondary school students from Lihir Secondary School, Utu Secondary School, Madina Girls High School, Namatanai Secondary as well as non-school leavers.
The program started off with guest speakers from Newcrest Limited and Anitua Group Limited emphasizing on Training Development opportunities in accordance to the destiny plan that was established by the Mining Company, purposely to equip people on the island with effective human resource, sustainability and self-reliance.
Ms. Labongis stated that the major career expo played an important role in providing a genuine insight to students, on which career pathways are suitable for them according to their academic strengths.
“We try to help these students identify pathways that are more suitable for them according to what subjects they’re currently studying so they know their place”, according to Acting President Labongis.
She highlighted also that several business houses on the island were invited to the expo to provide information on their respective roles in education based on scholarships and training development programs they provide.
The expo was put into three main categories, Science, Social Sciences and Business enabling students to acquire information to education pathways and what requirements to meet to be accepted into a specific institution.
“The three main subject booths were being set up in the hall and students went to the ones relating to their subjects and how they could apply, which was very easy and informative for them”, said Miss Labongis.
“Under each category, all related courses and strands were explained by tertiary students who are in those field of study.”
Interestingly the expo also included a booth for FODE students who are interested to better their grades to further their studies.
“The FODE booth was to give non-school leavers a chance to follow their career pathways and achieve their goals in life also says”, says Ms Labongis.
Ms Labongis detailed that prior to the recent career expo held for the high school students, the Lihir Student Union also had a previous Expo for kids last year around late November, and that was to help children develop goals and attitudes towards achieving their goals at an early age.