NMTI, which receives financial assistance from the federal and CNMI governments, has been enticing locals to learn trades skill, but some have decided to drop out due to lack of motivation.
The dropouts claim they have problems with transportation, but Pellegrino noted that these individuals, even those who are from Kagman, can go to a barbecue party at Wing Beach in Marpi.
Pellegrino said NMTI has 153 students attending classes in carpentry, electrical, masonry, plumbing, culinary arts, auto mechanic, painting, hospitality industry and core curriculum.
Since it opened in Lower Base two years ago, NMTI has promoted 240 core curriculum students who are now undergoing training in their chosen trade skill. The carpentry class has eight students; electrical has 14; plumbing, 19; culinary arts, 38; auto-mechanic, 37; hospitality industry, 15; and new core curriculum students, 16.
Pellegrino said the limited number of sessions is also a concern.
Each class has an average of 10 students but classes are held on two days only each week.
A bigger number of students will allow NMTI to hold classes four to five days a week, Pellegrino said.
But this requires additional funding as well as more equipment and tools, he added.
NMTI is also getting financial support from businesses. It recently received $10,000 from the First Hawaiian Bank and $3,000 from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.
But Pellegrino said money is not his primary concern. What NMTI needs are more motivated students, he added.
The hardest part right now, Pellegrino said, is to change the attitude of the majority of the local people.
“We have a philosophy here. The three H’s: Head, which is proper attitude; Heart, which is work ethics; and Hand, which are skills,” he said.
Attitude is the most important, he added. “It is the key.”
He said so many locals still want to work for the cash-strapped government.
“It’s like a socialist state. Everybody wants to work for the government,” he added.
Until that mentality changes, Pellegrino said “there will never be enough local employees for the private sector.”
The government, he added, should not be hiring many people.
According to Pellegrino, NMTI is now working with the Nutrition Assistance Program on a scheme that will compel trade school students who are food stamp recipients to complete their training.
The NAP office, he said, is very cooperative.
Another way to motivate people, he added, is by raising the minimum wage, which is currently set at $5.05 an hour.
He said if workers are motivated, they can always show they are worth more than they are paid.
Success stories
There are success story involving NMTI students, Pellegrino said.
Plumbing and carpentry instructor Bill Kintz said he sees a lot of potentials among their students.
Kintz said his students are eager to learn and he believes they can take over the foreign labor force.
“But we have to start from the beginning so they can understand the construction industry. A lot is involved. It’s not only about hammering the nail,” he said.
Kintz, who has been in the construction industry for 30 years and now works with the maintenance and operations division of the Department of Public Works, said he wants to make sure he motivates his students.
Henry Somol, 45, one of Kintz’s students said he enrolled at NMTI because it is very hard to find a job if you don’t have the skills.
For 20 years, Somol served as a supervisor of a garment factory. When the factory shut down in 2008, he said he had to raise pigs so he and his wife could make both ends meet.
But their income was not enough, so he tried applying for a job in the private sector.
He said all he got were interviews.
“They never called back,” he added.
At NMTI, Somol is confident that by the time he finishes his training, “I will have the skills already.”
Ray M. Sablan, 35, a plumbing student, said he wants to learn as many skills as possible so that he can fix all problems at his house himself.
A former poker machine technician, Sablan said his dream was to be a pilot but since there’s no school here for that, he might as well learn trade skills.
