Talks were recently initiated by the Tampakan local government for vocational and technical education assistance from the Australian government to the said locality.
The discussions were made by Tampakan, South Cotabato Mayor Leonardo Escobillo who met with visiting Australian Ambassador to the Philippine William Thomas Tweddell over the week.
“Tampakan is asking for help in the delivery of technical education programs and courses and we hope to address this issue with help from the Australian ambassador,” Escobillo said.
Tweddell, who was in South Cotabato as a visitor of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), said that “the Australian government is keen on identifying areas in the education sector in the Philippines where it can help, including technical skills education for out-of-school-youth.”
Tweddell was with Australian Minister Counselor for Trade Anthony Weymouth in his visit to Tampakan.
Tampakan is site of the proposed Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, technically managed by the Swiss-Australian company Xstrata with SMI as its local counterpart and the Philippine government’s contractor for the project.
“Education is a terrific amount of what we do in the Philippines, and it’s one of our flagship programs that we have,” Tweddell said.
“The embassy is very committed in identifying the needs of the communities in terms of education,” Weymouth added.
He said “the Australian government is working with the Philippine education department in order to implement the K-12 system in the country.”
“We continue to look for opportunities where we can help in the improvement of the education sector,” he added.
Escobillo said the Tampakan local government is working with different private sector partners such as the mining company SMI in its education programs and initiatives.
“We need more instructional equipment for our technical courses as well as fund to hire technical instructors,” Escobillo said.