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Data Analysis and Report Writing Course Commenced

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): November 19, 1997 - A brief ceremony was held at the Central Facility Building at the FSM Capital which officially opened the four week course on Data Analysis and Report Writing being conducted by Craeme Brown, Statistician and Kim Robertson, a Statistical Training Specialist, both from the South Pacific Commission SPC who has worked with statistical agencies in Asia and the Pacific.

The course is part of a SPC project funded by AusAid, the Australian Agency for International Development, to support statistical capacity building in the Pacific. The main aim is for the participants to learn data analysis and report writing techniques. Participants will have an opportunity to show their proficiency at those techniques by analyzing some local data sets and producing reports based on that analysis.

Timothy Semuda, Chief of Division of Statistics served as Master of Ceremony and Rev. Rensper Jack offered the Invocation.

National Planner Bermin Weilbacher in his opening remarks officially welcome the trainers and participants and emphasized the importance of the course as it deals with understanding the statistical data and their meanings to policy makers.

There has been a large accumulation of statistical data which are yet to be interpreted for the decision makers to understand and upon which to base their decisions and policies. The course will remedy this problem. It is a course that the FSM have been expecting for a while.

Speaking on behalf of the SPC, Brown welcomed the participants adding that its the fourth time SPC has conducted the course. The first was held in Papua New Guinea. The funding for the course was made available through the Australian Aid.

In his closing remarks, the National Planner urged the participants to take the course seriously and learn the wealth of information to be taught during the course of four weeks.

Weilbacher cautioned the participants about the danger of diminishing interests and attendance as time went by as a common attitude in the FSM. He urged participants not to get tired but to be faithful until the end of the training.

Participants represented the various FSM National Government and State Government Departments and offices, especially the Offices of planning and Statistics. Refreshments were served following the opening ceremony.