Australian Students in Port Moresby for study program

"This study visit to Papua New Guinea is aimed at increasing Australian students’ knowledge of the country, build friendships, share their knowledge and experience of PNG culture to a wider audience in Australia"
Four Sports Science students and a staff member from Australia’s James Cook University (JCU) are in Port Moresby for a two-week study program under the Australian Government’s scholarship program called the New Colombo Plan (NCP).

This study visit to Papua New Guinea is aimed at increasing Australian students’ knowledge of the country, build friendships, share their knowledge and experience of PNG culture to a wider audience in Australia.
The students arrived on Sunday 17 June accompanied by their Deputy Head of Faculty Human Movement – Sport Science, Glen Deakin and were welcomed by Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea Caitlin Wilson on Monday 18 June at a reception at the Australian High Commission.

The Deputy High Commissioner warmly welcomed the JCU team and highlighted the significant bilateral and historical Papua New Guinea-Australia relationship.

Ms Wilson emphasised the importance of the NCP program in contributing to Australia’s longstanding ties with Papua New Guinea and building upon shared history.

“PNG is our nearest neighbour and close regional partner and a stable and prosperous PNG is in Australia’s national interest,” she said.

She encouraged the students to establish networks with people in Papua New Guinea and build on these networks upon their return to Australia.

The reception was attended by the Vice Minister for Sports, National events and APEC Wesley Raminai, Chief Executive Officer of PNG Sports Foundation Peter Tsimalili and Director of High Performance Sports, Aaron Aslop.

Mr Aslop acknowledged the contribution this program will make in re-affirming the Papua New Guinea-Australia partnership and exchange of

Knowledge between staff of High Performance Sports PNG, PNG sport elites and the JCU students.

“The staff of High Performance Sport PNG embrace continual learning and this project provides a sustainable option to support their professional development,” he said.

“We also believe that providing the opportunity for Australian students to be immersed in a high performance environment, working side by side with PNG elite athletes is an experience often hard to come by in Australia.

It’s a win-win partnership for both Australia and Papua New Guinea which we hope will lay the platform for more discussion on implementing sport education in PNG,” he said.

The students are hosted by the PNG Sports Foundations High Performance office and are undertaking various sport science activities with PNG’s national athletes, High Performance Sports staff and the PNG Sports Foundation as part of their two-week study.

They will be in Port Moresby until 28 June.

NCP is an initiative of the Australian Government, which aims to increase knowledge and understanding of Indo-Pacific in Australia, by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region.

Forty-nine students from various universities in Australia have successfully completed their study placements in PNG since its launch in PNG in 2015.

The NCP program comprises of scholarship program for study of up to one year for Australian undergraduates as well as internships and project grants, which support undergraduates to participate in semester-based or short-term study, practicum and research.