NOW that the Northern Marianas Technical Institute has reopened its doors to 103 students, NMTI Chief Executive Officer Agnes McPhetres is all the more convinced that the trade school needs accreditation.
If NMTI is accredited, McPhetres said its students would be able to tap federal financial aid and the trade school itself could obtain more funds, including federal grants.
Currently, NMTI students can only avail themselves of local financial help from the CNMI Scholarship Office and the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program.
McPhetres said the institute pays for most of the materials its students need,
Citing automotive students as an example, she said certain uniforms and specialized equipment are needed, which do not come cheap.
“You have to buy supplies that are consumable. You have to buy tools, you have to buy equipment, you have to buy the type of clothing or shoes that are acceptable for that particular trade,” McPhetres said, adding that trade school students must undergo hands-on training.
NMTI Director for Continuing Education and Workforce Development Ross S. Manglona said most of the equipment and tools that NMTI has and utilizes in its courses were donated by their benefactors.
“If you erect a hotel, who’s going to maintain it? Who’s going to repair it? We are training students [to do all that],” said Manglona.
NMTI has to spend funds on necessary but costly equipment, such as a $27,000 generator from the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.
NMTI Director of Instruction Dante Yumul said the institute currently has 12 instructors only.
These instructors are underpaid given their qualifications and advanced skills, McPhetres said.
A former NMC president, McPhetres said a trades institute is drastically different from a college.
A trades school, she added, needs special equipment and materials.
A CNMI government entity, NMTI averages about 700 students per school year and offers a number of courses including automotive technology, culinary arts, electrical, heating, ventilation, welding, and hotel and restaurant operations.
