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Ssne of the Pacific countrieg rrch e Tuvalu md Kiribeti have limited lend potential
to lppolt a growing population. A glance st countriee ruch c Fiji, New Celedonia, Vanuatu
md Solomon lrlandr reveals large areaa of uncultivated land wtrich might anggcst rbstmtial
rope for developnnn[ and c.rpport of a growing population, hrt in fect a good perc-entage of
the lsnd ir infertile, lteep end offers little scope to upport brge rumbem of pcople. Aa
pqulation becomes rrprs dense the problems of the Lsage of land relourcec, and of
cnploymant qportunities trr the land or in the comrnercisl or white collar sactors are likely
to becorne rmre rrious.
Thig reelization of potential egsociated with the developrnent of hurnn resources is
dependent tr'r meny f ectors. An area for congideretion ie the developnnnt of skills,
particularly through education and training of the gnowing population, as related to the
nturated and diminishing qportunities in the labour rnarkets. To what extent are education
end training progremmes adryted to the changing reeds and the future of Pcific people ?
To keep pace with thcse changes the attenpt to develop human resources will require
forecasting manpower needs, selection, training, and rupervision. Hopefully the workers will
be setisfied and productive, bading to en effective and efficient work-force. Although the
development of human rlesources is consonsnt with providing higher levels of education or
npre extensive and intensive treining usually focugsed on skitls and techniquee, what results,
in my view, is the concenLration of efforte m the few to sarve the rnany. This is inevitabb
e! we qumtif y our sr.rccecses in the developnent of our human nesource potential by
displaying data to reveel how many people with different levels of qualification heve been
produced. However, if this is ueed as a mejor index for the developnent of human potential,
then rome aerioug qreetions need to be aeked about its pplicability to Pacific societieg.
It is fashionable to talk about the developrnent of middle level marpower. All
development plans ineist. m this.
"ln short, it. seems that heving developed some human resources we then
develop the reeourceg of gome other humana .albeit at a lower level to arpport the
efforts of the firat lot, in the hope that the human fesourcee development will
take place asl our trained and educated and equipped human nesource developers
descend sr other humans whoge resources need to be developed." (Maraj, L977).
The Pacific region requires deliberate planning to focus m training and education if it
is to utilize fully the potentials of its greatest Bset - its people.
It is dso faghionable in the Pacific to talk about rural developnent, as between 50% to
80% of the Pacific people live in rural areas, and could be the major source of skills and
Feeources for the economy. Following independence in many countries, the rising expectations
in nation building, education and training in all sectors of the community are seen a me of
the major instrunents for progress: more jobs, more social rnobility and rnore investment for
generating economic development. Tfese expect.ations are also encouraged by international
agencies who make considerable investments m this front.
Are such developnrent theories and strategies, with particular emphasis on markel
orientation, gecializations and the complexi[ies involved really relevanl to Pacific countriesi
More than 80% of lhe Pacific people derive their livelihood from agriculture and to a greal
extent our economy is dependant on agrarian production. Although agriculture is the
foundation of the Pacif ic economy, technological changes have a signif icant effect (r
treining skillg and employment qportunities. To go f urther, some jobs can be lost tt
technology which will mly be in psrt be absorbed by employment created by the neu
technologies.
The pace of economic and technological changes differs from me Pacific country t(
another, and the question as to whether these changes have been of material benefit to lhr
majority of Pacific people is yet unknown. Is developrnent so geared and entrenched ir
foreign ideas and values that little note is taken of the real life situation of Pacifir
countries? Do we continue in order to be developed along with the outside world?