Papua New Guinea's youth can bring change to country: Pope Francis

Pontiff addresses their unemployment anxiety, calls on them to transform nation

- Wong Pei Ting

PORT MORESBY TikTok, Instagram, K-Pop, anime. You name it.

Information technology undergraduate Roy Baki, 22, is very much into what many young people around the world are interested in as well, although he lives in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Pacific island nation better known for its untouched nature.

It is also the most far-flung country that Pope Francis is visiting on his 12-day Asia tour.

The lanyard Mr Baki was wearing as a volunteer for one of the Pope's events bore a photo of Sana from South Korean girl group Twice. Danielle is his "bias" in NewJeans, he offered when this other Korean girl band floated into the conversation.

But behind this chirpy image is an anxious youth. He will graduate from the Don Bosco Technological Institute with a bachelor's degree in IT in 2025 and is "terrified" about what is to come.

He has good reason to feel this way. About 80,000 young people in PNG leave the school system yearly, but fewer than 10,000 are Pope Francis visiting the Holy Trinity Humanities School in Baro, Papua New Guinea, on Sept 8. During his visit to the country, the Pope said its trove of natural resources should be destined for the "entire community".

The situation is especially acute in urban areas such as the capital city of Port Moresby, where more than 60 per cent of youth are unemployed.

Mr Baki already considers himself fortunate - his dad works as a public servant, while his mum is public servant, while his mum is an accountant, and both take home enough to support his education to this point.

Many parents are unable to support their children beyond Grades 10 to 12 - the equivalent of Secondary 4 to the second year of junior college in Singapore tertiary education fees are much higher, he said.

Even if there is money, spaces in tertiary institutions are limited, putting many aspirants through a "bottleneck", he added.