Minister of Education, Hon Moffat Fugui

THE Solomon Islands Tertiary Education Skills Authority Bill 2016 (SITESA) has been passed in Parliament.

The Act seeks to provide for the establishment and operation of the SITESA and for relevant purposed as stated in the Act.

Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Hon Moffat Fugui told Parliament that the proposed location to which the authority will be placed at is at the National Training Unit (NTU), at the Panatina campus.

This is he added is to reduce the influx of people at the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD).

Debate on the Bill over the days before Parliament went into its Committee stage to go through the Bill clause by clause proved lively.

Leader of the Official Opposition and Member of Parliament (MP) for Hograno-Kia-Havulei, Hon Jeremiah Manele raised pressing concerns over political interference into the proposed authority.

He also strongly recommended that the Government consider written recommendations in the Report of the Bill that was compiled by the Bills and Legislation Committee.

Leader of the Independent Group and Member of Parliament (MP) for North-East Guadalcanal Hon Dr Derek Sikua told Parliament that it is highly crucial that the Government take into consideration the possibility of the authority being unable to carry out some of its intended functions.

Hon Dr Derek Sikua was the former Minister of Education and Human Resource Development before he switched sides to the Independent bloc during the recent political upheaval.

He too played a crucial part into the formation of the SITESA Bill.

The Bill went through Parliament’s Committee Stage without amendments and was passed in its Third Reading on Wednesday March 1, 2017.