Rebecca Kiage, Hon James Marape MP, Pastor Isaac Joseph MP, and Gregory Balavue at the UCL SERAus in Adelaide.
The PNG Minister for Education, Hon James Marape MP, and the Deputy-Governor of Southern Highlands Province, Pastor Isaac Joseph MP, were hosted in Adelaide recently by representatives from Santos.
Mr Marape and Mr Joseph were taken to meet Gregory Balavue and Rebecca Kiage, two PNG students studying at the new University College London School of Energy and Resources Australia (UCL SERAus).
This is the university’s first overseas school, and serves as a hub for learning and research for the energy and resources industry in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Santos, one of the major shareholders in the PNG LNG project, is contributing $10 million over seven years to establish the university’s new school, and provide funding for research, staff and scholarships.
Mr Balavue and Ms Kiage are two recipients of these Santos scholarships. Both are PNG university graduates and are in Adelaide studying full-time masters degrees in energy and resources policy and practice.
The two were successful candidates among applicants from around the world, including an extraordinary 700 applications from PNG. As well as these two scholarship recipients, several other PNG students were offered places as fee-paying students on the masters degree.
Scholarship opportunities at UCL SERAus are advertised globally each year.
Following this visit, Mr Marape and Mr Joseph toured the University of Adelaide’s Australian School of Petroleum (ASP), also established with support from Santos.
Santos has committed to a $25 million contribution over ten years for the establishment of the ASP, which is believed to be the largest single industry sponsorship ever given to a public university in Australia.
Santos’ contribution to the ASP has funded the establishment of the school, the professorial chair, and engineering, management and geoscience courses.
Both Mr Marape and Mr Joseph commended Santos for its significant investment in educational support, and for making opportunities known to PNG students.
Mr Marape said, “The true legacy of the PNG LNG Project will be in the human capital of the people of Papua New Guinea”.
Filed under:
Education/youth, Papua New Guinea, South Australia