Aid and migration lessons from the APTC
The Australia Pacific Technical College was set up by the Howard Government in 2007 to develop regional skills and promote international labour mobility. Seven years on, tracking data indicate the APTC has failed to achieve this latter objective. Why? What went wrong with this innovative “aid-for-migration” or “global skills partnership” program? A new discussion paper by Michael Clemens of the Centre for Global Development and Stephen Howes and Colum Graham of the Development Policy Centre addresses this question. The authors find that plenty of APTC graduates want to migrate, but that, despite graduating with an Australian qualification, they lack opportunities to do so. There is no easy way for them to get their skills and experience certified, and there are no mechanisms for them to connect with potential Australian employers. In turn, the authors find that these adverse design features have persisted because of a lack of political commitment to the original labour mobility goal of the APTC, both in Australia and in the Pacific.
Searching for a Pacific model of growth: PNG and Pacific Update programs
Programs are now available for our flagship Pacific and PNG Updates. The PNG Update will be hosted by the UPNG School of Business in Port Moresby on 12-13 June at the University of Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Update will be held at the Australian National University on 16-17 June.
We have a total of 60 speakers across the two Updates. The opening keynote for the Pacific Update (Monday, 9am) will be Dr Yongzheng Yang of the IMF. Dr Yang has been the IMF’s resident representative for Pacific island countries for the last four years, and will be speaking on “In search of a Pacific model of growth.” We’re delighted to announce that the other keynote speaker (Tuesday, 1pm) will be Professor Ron Duncan of the Australian National University. Professor Duncan is the author of numerous Pacific reports and publications, and was awarded the Order of Australia earlier this year for his work on PNG and the Pacific.
Keynote speakers for the PNG Update include Professor John Gibson of Waikato University, the leading expert on poverty in PNG. Other keynote speakers will be announced shortly.
You can view the PNG Update program here and for registration contact Professor Lekshmi N. Pillai at UPNG (lnpillai@upng.ac.pg) or Macarena Rojas at Devpolicy (macarena.rojas@anu.edu.au). You can view the Pacific Update program here and register here. The Pacific Update is also back to back with SSGM’s State of the Pacific conference.
NZ aid series
Yesterday we launched a new blog series bringing New Zealand aid and development policy under the microscope. Running once a week for approximately ten weeks, the series will address the key aid and development questions for this small, advanced nation. For more information, or to submit a contribution, contact the co-ordinator of the series here. And click here for an update on the latest NZ aid budget.
Blog highlights
More problems with the ODE volunteer evaluation
Is Radio Australia on the chopping block?
PNG drugs fail the test
Why don’t people read World Bank reports?
Post-flood flames in Honiara
Blog summary
You can find a list of all posts since our last newsletter on 16 May in the list below.
Introducing a blog series on NZ aid and development by NZADDs.
Product Development Partnerships: an innovative approach to tackling neglected diseases by David Reddy and Mel Spigelman.
Below the Glass Floor by Alan Cairns.
Economic growth – can inclusive policies overcome exclusive practices? By Steve Pollard.
Why is it that so few of us appear to read reports? Because life is squelched out of them by Gordon Peake.
Great expectations and the volunteer program by Ashlee Betteridge.
Alternative indicators of well-being for Melanesia: changing the way progress is measured in the South Pacific by Jamie Tanguay.
Demonstrating additionality in private sector development initiatives – a new exploration of good practice for cost-sharing mechanisms by Melina Heinrich.
Cultural economics: Elise Huffer discusses opportunities for the Pacific by Tess Newton Cain and Elise Huffer.
In brief
Opinion poll shows 64% of voters support budget cut to aid
New study shows substandard medicines throughout PNG health system
Shockwaves from Australia Network cuts threaten Radio Australia
Thank you for the points that were raised on your discussion paper on the above topic. I was one of the first graduates of APTC in Port Vila, Vanuatu when the college was first opened, in Cert IV, Training and Assessment (TAA). I could not agree more as for many graduates, there remained lack of opportunities to move ahead. What they got was a Certificate that said that it fitted the Australian Qualification Training Framework and is recognized here in Australia but opportunities to come here are non existent.
Having said that, there is also the other side of the argument that not all graduates had the desire to move either regionally and or overseas and I think that was mentioned in your paper. One of the aims of APTC was for labor mobility but the other which should also have equal emphasis is the up-skilling.
After graduation, I was the President of the Alumni association for APTC graduates from Vanuatu and there was a sense that we were fortunate to get the training but wanted to promote this to other communities, towns and villages to ensure others also benefited. And we set about this by beginning to plan for programs that enabled us to use the skills that we had learned and give back to the community. The Carpentry graduates volunteered to make bookshelves for the local library and built seats and tables in the public parks and kids playground and so forth. What we lacked was the funding to support us in this initiative even though several requests had been made to APTC headquarters. The other aspect that is worth mentioning is the request for these graduates to go on a sort of “apprentice program” for short periods. This would enable them to practice the skills they had achieved and at the same time prepare them for the testing requirements that are necessary for obtaining the appropriate visa’s to migrate overseas. And more importantly for countries in the Pacific, is the experience and skills they can pass on others.
Perhaps this opportunity maybe realized for the Hospitality graduates in the Seasonal Workers Program (SWP), should Australia decide to open up its tourism sector under this scheme in the future but for other graduates in Automotive, TAA and Carpentry, that possibility remains bleak.