Local students to leave for China 21st March

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

A flight to take Solomon Islanders to study in China is scheduled for 21^st March 2022 according to Dr. Jimmie Rodgers.

Dr. Rodgers, Secretary to the Prime Minister said this will be a special flight organized by Solomon Airlines for Solomon Islands students to go to study in China.

“Almost 90 students are going and on its return, the flight will bring in some citizens and workers on important projects the government is undertaking,” he said.

Dr. Rodgers said a week later, a date will be confirmed for Solomon Airlines to operate a second repatriation flight for Fiji.

“So, we are looking at 28^th or 29^th of March for the second Fiji repatriation flight. That route is yet to be confirmed.  The first Fiji repatriation flight is set for Wednesday. The flight will go from Honiara to Nadi and Nadi to Honiara,” he said

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Education and Human Resources Development Dr. Franco Rodie said preparation work for the first Fiji repatriation flight is almost completed and so what remains is testing for COVID-19 so that students are free from the infections and be allowed to board the flight.

Rodie said the other repatriation flight is planned probably towards the end of this month.

He said four students who have studied in Samoa will also board the second Fiji repatriation flight. These four students in Samoa have graduated and have completed their studies.

“My Ministry is working very closely with the students in Samoa as well as the education attaché in Suva,” Rodie said.

He adds that the final group of students remaining in Manila, two of them have arrived last week. There are three including a dependent who will be arriving in the country on the 11^th of March.

Rodie said they will be traveling via Singapore to Brisbane and from Brisbane to Honiara.

“They are the final group of students that we are repatriating from the Philippines. It has taken us so long to organize their flight for a number of reasons,” he said.

The above statements were echoed yesterday during the OPMC radio talkback show on the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara.