Monday, April 30, 2012
Law proposed for free education
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120501/tuhome.htm
By KOLOPU WAIMA
The Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said the government will pass a legislation to make compulsory free education in Papua New Guinea.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill revealed this when opening ten classrooms (five double classrooms) at Hood Lagoon, Keapara village, Rigo district in the Central Province last Saturday.
He said that education is his party the People National Congress (PNC)’s first priority because it will not only improve the livelihood of the citizens but develop the country.
He said that countries like Botswana in Africa and Malaysia got independence in 1975 as PNG did but they are more developed and advanced because they have invested in education. “We the government of PNG lacks investment in education in previous years therefore the country is not developed as it should be.
“So now I want to redirect the country to the right direction by putting education as my first priority,” he said. The government’s aim he said is to legislate free education so that no successive governments will interfere with it in future. The free education policy translates to the current tuition fees paid by the government for elementary students to grade 10 students and a 75 per cent subsidy for students in Grades 11 and 12.
Mr O’Neill said thousands of school-children are not at school due to school fee problems.
Mr O’Neill said that he took office in August 2 2011 and tries to change the country into right direction in corrections of past mistakes “we have done.”
The national department of education is working on the policy to legislate the compulsory fee free education in the country.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
O’Neill: Free education will be made compulsory
Source:
The National, Monday 30th April 2012
By JEFFREY ELAPA
THE government will pass a legislation to make free education compulsory in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said.
He said this while opening five double classrooms at Keapara Primary School in the Hood Lagoon area, Rigo district, Central, last Saturday.
He said his People National Congress party and coalition partners believed strongly in education as the catalyst for change in society.
He said his priority was to rebuild the education system and the educational infrastructures.
O’Neill said on top of the K70 million paid for free education, government hoped to deliver infrastructure grants to all educational institutions.
He said the funds would go straight to the schools so that the teachers, management and parents could control them.
He said countries which became independence around the same time as PNG had developed so fast because they had invested in their human resources.
He said he was looking at giving students the right to education by paying their fees.
After that, schools would be given the opportunity to improve on infrastructure to give them a better learning environment.
He also donated K500,000 for equipment for the new classrooms.
O’Neill also committed K1.5 million for the church and multi-purpose development centre and another K200,000 for sports and church activities
Markham locals give land for oil palm projects
Source:
The National, Monday 30th April 2012
TWENTY-seven landowners from Umi-Atzera in Markham valley, Morobe province, set a record by releasing 7,000ha of land at no cost to the government and jointly initiated a pioneer oil palm project. Markham MP Koni Iguan thanked the locals for their change of attitude over land disputes by working in partnership with the government.
“Let’s shift away from the traditional mindset by utilising our land meaningfully in agricultural activities to transform our lifestyle,” Iguan said. Incorporated Land Group (ILG) certificates and land title were awarded to landowners to believe in themselves and take part meaningfully during the launching at the Mutzing station last Friday. Provincial administrator Kemaseng Tomala said it took three years to negotiate for the vital project that would exist for years to come and would benefit locals, provincial government and the national economy. He said the tireless effort of provincial special projects officer Bart Ipambonj had become a reality as the first phase included negotiations with landowners, mobilisation, land survey, registration and incorporation of ILGs. Phase two includes oil palm development, securing environmental permit license, secure investors, set up processing mill, using waste products and carbon trade activities. “Importantly, it was to ensure landowners have land titles, ILG certificates, are involved in planting and processing, form ILG companies, become shareholders, harvest and export the end result,” Tomala said. The provincial government supports the project and allocated K1 million for the process, including Markham the joint district planning committee.
The project has seen 145,000 seedlings planted already and a further 155,000 to be planted this year. “Although the national highway penetrates through the ‘heart’ of Markham, locals remain mere spectators, planting and supplying only peanuts and dry coconuts to mainly Highlanders. Though the land mass was tag as ‘food bowl’ by government after government, nothing positive eventuated over the years,” Iguan said. “Palm oil will provide services that government is unable to provide.” Governor Luther Wenge praised the locals for releasing the land at no cost
Teacher calls on PM to abolish OBE
Source:
The National, Monday 30th April 2012
Lawrence Rewai, the headmaster of Hood Lagoon Primary school in Rigo district, said the OBE was not effective and needed to be changed immediately.
He said the system was not good as it did not prepare students for the higher level of education.
Although the OBE was designed to use local knowledge to produce results, students and the teachers were finding it difficult.
He said Grade 8 performances were gradually dropping since the system was introduced in 2004.
Rewai said it was very difficult also to bridge elementary Year 2 and Year 3 because the children in Papua New Guinea were used to their local vernacular.
He said the old system of education was better as there were sufficient materials and that discipline was maintained to produce results.
He stated that the OBE was only good for countries with only one language.
He said if the country wanted to produce brains that would make changes to the country then it should do away with OBE as Education minister Theo Zurenuoc had announced.
Academic: Jiwaka needs proper model
Source:
The National, Monday 30th April 2012
JIWAKA needs a proper administrative and economic model before it becomes a province, Dr William Tongamp said.
The associate professor at Akita University, in Japan, said that would be done if educated people of the province went back and contributed ideas to develop it.
Tongamp said this during a get-together of educated Jiwaka elites in Port Moresby, last Friday.
He said Jiwaka could be like Japan which advanced quickly after World War II but only if it had the right model and people in place.
“The Japanese model is that they used knowledge to build their country,” he said.
Tongamp said the country had many politicians but no leaders who could see and understand things of the past and prepare it for the future.
Tongamp, who is contesting the Jiwaka regional seat, said if the model proved successful in Jiwaka, the government could adapt it to administer the country.
Tongamp said with the LNG project and other developments happening in the country, good leaders were needed to manage the benefits that would be derived from them.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Basic education for all a must, says Webster
Source:
The National, Thursday 26th 2012
By DULCIE OREKE
PAPUA New Guinea will not develop socially and economically if the majority of people do not have basic education, National Research Institute director Dr Thomas Webster said.
He said globally Papua New Guinea ranked as one of the lowest in universal basic education indicators with war and drought stricken countries of the sub-Sahara. "We must make every effort to universal basic education if we are to achieve the goals espoused in Vision 2050," he said.
Speaking during the launching of the new universal basic education policy research framework released in Port Moresby yesterday, Webster said it was sad for PNG that the target date of 2015 would be missed.
He said as someone who had been observing the country's progress towards the goals of universalising basic education, it would be fair to say that PNG has never been serious about achieving UBE for all.
"It has been simply, statements of intents, with no strategic measures being taken to move the country forward," he said.
He said the challenges were "immense".
He said less that 15% of the children aged six were now able to enroll at elementary prep.
He said of the many that enrolled into elementary prep at different ages, about half dropped out of school and did not complete primary education.
Webster said the quality of education was so poor that even many of those who got to complete a full primary education had not mastered the competencies desired in reading and writing in arithmetic skills and in general knowledge
Census data shows education
Source:
The National, Thursday 26th 2012
By DULCIE OREKE
IT is evident that systematic reforms, including education reforms at all levels since 1993, have not had the desired impact on access, retention and quality of education, Education Minister Theodore Zurenuoc says.
He said student enrolment data showed that only 11.5% of six-year-olds in the country were admitted to elementary prep to begin their formal education.
He said 88.5% of the six-year-olds were not admitted.
Speaking during the launch of the new universal basic education policy framework released in Port Moresby yesterday, Zurenuoc said the 2007 annual school census data showed that of the total number of children who had access to basic education, only 45.3% completed Gr 8.
"The other 54.7% of the children did not complete a full nine years of basic education," he said.
"There are a plethora of reasons for the poor access and completion rates," he said.
He said the contributing factors had been well researched and documented by the National Research Institute.
He said NRI had clearly shown that parents, guardians and caregivers "do not have the financial capacity to pay school fees".
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Google Insight
The story of how the two genius who created what will revolutionize the search engines is an inspirational insight. This is not an impossible example. Maximize the brain capabilities now for our benefit. Not just for profit but for the satisfaction of achievement.
http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/31862
This sort of story is good for awareness to Sialum students who are attending colleges and universities. At the same time it can inspirational to the ones who at the primary schools within Sialum local level government. From nothing the two geniuses came up with this search engine. Even before they them launch their business, they offered to a company which rejected the offer. It is believe the company the rejected the offer may be regretting.
The students of Sialum need to have a push at their back to make heap and bounds. Since Sialum is a rural based local level government such story of successful businesses and innovation will have positive impact to the future generation. This should become a motivating factor for the students and children to study hard. Their sweat will be pay them later in their dream career.
The children’s capabilities are encouraged when they are young and adventurous to explore their nicely knitted brain capacity
Scholarship Winners
In 2011 there were a good number of Sialum students attending colleges and university. One particular mention is an agriculture student who is in her final year studies of Bachelor of Science in Tropical Agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Environment. Last year she was the winner of New Zealand Government scholarship scheme award and the Gerson-Solulu scholarship award. The New Zealand government gives scholarships to female students who study either Bachelor of Science in Agriculture or Bachelor of Science in Tropical Agriculture. The Gerson-Solulu scholarship is an annual scholarship awarded to Morobe Province students attending colleges and universities.
Sialum is product to have one of its students win both the awards. This relieves the parents of the burden of school fee pressure. The parents can now support their other children.
Sialum also had one of its student graduated from Geology in the same year. He was one of the winners of the Gerson-Solulu scholarship scheme. A lot of Sialum students graduated from Balob Teachers college. The graduates of the teachers college are now absorbed into the teaching pool and are currently teaching. Many of these graduated teachers are teaching in Sialum schools. About four of Sialum students will be graduating with degrees and diplomas this year. This will make a big and positive bearing to the human resource of Sialum.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Human Resource Development Sialum
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