Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill this afternoon confirmed the resumption of the 2016 academic year for the University of Papua New Guinea.
In a statement received by EMTV News, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said students must be given a chance to complete their studies.
“We need to get the students back into class and give them every chance to complete their studies for the year,” he said.
Meantime, issues will be discussed and resolved by all parties involved.
“We also have thousands of UPNG students who should be in class right now, as well as a number of people who are employed by the University who are missing out on work and income,”
“The knock-on effect of not resuming the academic year is costly in terms of the impost on families, problems for current and future students, and concerns for segments of the economy who were expecting to employ new graduates.
“We have a fresh intake of students graduating from high schools at the end of this year who must be given their chance to study at the university.”
The Prime Minister said if classes are to resume, this should only be opened to students who are committed to their education.
“Any student who wants to return to class at UPNG must do so with the attitude that they want to study, that they want to be there and work to complete their education and move on to the workforce. The Government, UPNG and other stakeholders will continue to have discussions on the resumption of classes in the coming days.”
Prime Minister also issued a warning to the foreign media to report responsibly.
“I call on media, particularly foreigners like the ABC, to report responsibly and do not publish rumor and make the situation worse as they have done in the past,”
“There are a number of people who do not want to see the resumption of classes as they are pursuing their own political agendas, and they will be back in contact with the ABC trying to distribute misinformation,”
“The ABC has to check the facts before publishing” Prime Minister said.
