Noting that it was a pet project of the Papua New Guinean prime minister, Abal said: 'My PM has accepted this concept from India as something which is good for us to borrow.'

Abal said that India's assistance and technical expertise in setting up those colleges will be highly appreciated. 'We have 60-70 percent of children missing out from education. We want to look at ways to incorporate them into economic activity and nation-building. This will supplement the formal education system.'

During his field visit in Tamil Nadu, Abal was impressed at the way lives were being changed by providing access to education in economically backward areas.

'One of them was very touching. The mother came up and shared her story, about her son who had given up studies. Now, he was earning Rs 5,000, working for a computer company -- far from his wildest dreams,' he said.

In fact, he has asked his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to schedule a trip to Papua New Guinea this year, so that he could be taken to those areas where the Indian-assisted colleges will be functioning.