Bill asks PSS to develop technical school

A bill was recently introduced at the House of Representatives that aims to authorize the Public School System to develop a technical education program to help meet the needs of the local business community.

House Education Committee chair Justo Quitugua, who introduced House Bill 14-210 with several colleagues on Friday, said the proposal came following the PSS’ submission of a feasibility study on the need for a technical school.

The feasibility study was made after the lower chamber previously adopted House Resolution 14-4, which allows for the development of a technical school at Marianas High School.

The overarching goal of both legislative proposals, according to Quitugua, is to create more skilled local workers who would eventually replace nonresident personnel in the CNMI.

Quitugua, in his bill, said the program may include the development of appropriate vocational and technical education curriculum, which shall include on-the-job training for the last two years in the program; faculty training and development; identification of appropriate school sites for the program; identification of necessary collateral equipment, materials, and supplies; student performance standards; possible compensation for student graduates; and monitoring mechanism to ensure effective on-the-job training, among others.

Quitugua said the PSS has to create a curriculum development advisory committee for the program, composed of PSS employees, including teachers, parents, representatives from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Association of the NMI, Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, Saipan Rotary Club, and similar organizations.

The bill also creates a technical education program fund under the PSS account.

The fund shall get money from revenues collected from jackpot winnings tax (10 percent), $25 from every initial application fee and renewal paid by nonresident workers, and all applicable local and federal funds.

Lawmakers agreed that the program would strengthen the quality and economic competitiveness of the local workforce.

The committee chair noted that it has been 20 years since the enactment of the Nonresident Workers Act and yet the CNMI continues to rely heavily on alien workers.

He had said a campus concentrated on technical education/training would provide students with technical literacy to succeed in the workplace.