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Education a top priority
THERE is too much complacency about
education in Papua New Guinea.
It expresses itself in the apathy of many parents towards the
education of their children.
It is obvious in the poor performance and lack of commitment
among a significant proportion of the nation’s teachers.
And the demands upon governments and would-be governments to
provide free education only add to that complacency.
We do not believe in free
education and we support the Somare Government in its reluctance
to do more that provide a very significant subsidy for the
purpose.
Parents have a responsibility to educate their children.
Partnerships between men and women normally involve the creation
of new human lives and acceptance of the responsibility for the
development of the lives of those children.
That’s not just a matter of ensuring that they receive enough
food and clothing, although the provision of even those basics
are all too often overlooked.
Access to health services, protection from abuse, the creation
and maintenance of a loving and caring environment – these are
all basic ingredients in the recipe for a happy, healthy and
creative childhood.
Teachers must accept their share of the responsibility for
providing part of that recipe.
Those teachers who regard contact with classes as an irksome
task should move into other fields of employment.
Teaching requires training, but nothing can replace the inbuilt
urge to help turn a small child into a caring, creative and
well-balanced adult. Teachers with those abilities are the ones
this nation needs.
Then come the issues of materials and of facilities.
How many school libraries are there in PNG and how many of them
actually contain shelves filled with books?
We cannot answer our own question.
But we can hazard a guess that the majority of schools do not
have proper libraries.
As a result the skills and love of reading so vital to children
simply wither and die early in their school career.
These remarks are prompted by a declaration from the Education
Minister Michael Laimo that rural school children will in future
experience a major boost to the quality of their education.
The minister said that part of this process would ensure that
“isolated areas have enough well-trained teachers, relevant
curriculum materials, fully stocked libraries and computers.”
These are the key components that can turn the minister’s vision
into a reality.
Mr Laimo also noted his ministry’s determination to continue its
partnership with mission schools. He is wise to do so as the
percentage of students catered for at such schools remains
consistently high.
Without the ongoing support of these schools, any PNG government
would be hard-pressed to pursue a national programme of
education. Further to comments we made a week or two ago, we
would add that there is a great need for the more even
distribution of vocational schools and for the construction and
quality staffing of technical high schools.
The Education Department might even consider the introduction of
basic technical skills at upper primary level, similar to the
long established mission exposure of very young students to
small-scale farming and livestock skills on campus.
The main thrust of all these proposals is simple and obvious. We
have to get PNG moving. We have to so improve the standard of
our primary and secondary and technical education that we can be
sure that graduates from these levels will have the skills
needed to contribute to their own and other communities.
We should not only be fighting to educate a burgeoning younger
generation. We should recognise our own roles as parents in this
process.
Apathy and the common couldn’t care less attitude belong in the
past. Today’s effective parents care very much about student
outcomes and about holistic education, the production of a
well-rounded human being.
And teachers should acknowledge that the classroom skills needed
to reach students have to come with a caring approach. Acquiring
a working knowledge of the curriculum is only a part of the
performance expected of a dedicated teacher.
If Michael Laimo, whose experience in the education field is now
considerable, can bring about even a portion of this agenda, his
name will long be remembered in the annals of PNG education.
 
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