Pindiu’s agro school without tools

By VICKY BAUNKE
IN the country, there are schools where students and teachers have it easy and gaining an education or teaching education is a breeze. There are also schools in PNG where every day is a struggle for students who want to learn and teachers who try to teach.
In the deep hinterlands of Finschhafen in Morobe one such school wishes things could turn around for the better. The Pindiu Lutheran Agro High School was established in 2005 in the Hube LLG in Finschaffen Morobe and has a population of 350 students. It caters for grades 9 and 10 students with 12 substantive teaching positions.
However, only 9 teachers took up postings this year, and of those, 2 have left with the remaining ones having to contend with the large number of students.
To get there is a four-hour journey by boat from Lae to Finschhafen on the coast. From there, it is a road trip towards the mountains which takes up to six hours if the weather is not too bad.
A cautionary word of advice though. Take a four wheel drive.
On my first trip on that mountainous road – or track, whichever way you want to call it- last month, the other passengers and I had to get off the vehicle several times to push it through the mud. We arrived in Pindiu late at night.
Pindiu Lutheran Agro School Head Teacher Peter Matengim, is faced with the challenge of running the school despite the absence of certain government services.
“The quality of education has been affected with only a few teachers trying to cover subjects that they are not specialised in, although they’re doing their best, Matengim said.
A teacher who taught computer lessons has left after trying to improvise in an institution where there is no computer.
As the name suggests, the school specializes in agriculture but that is not happening, what with the lack of agricultural tools and projects that students can learn from practically.
Nine semi- permanent buildings serve as classrooms while the student mess is a haphazard building made out of bush material. Plans to fix the infrastructure have, for a long time, been on hold due to lack of funding.
“I am now appealing to the Pindiu community elites in the country to contribute back to your people…we are a Level 8 school with 12 teaching positions that we need to fill in order to enroll the increasing number of students who want to be educated, Matengim said.
He is also appealing to partners and sponsors to assist with agricultural tools.
The attendance of students is also becoming an issue with students unable to turn up for classes when clan fights or disputes between villages are happening.
The male students feel obliged to remain in the village to help in these fights. Female students stay away for fear of being attacked in the classrooms. There have been instances where male students have had to attend school with their knives or arrows in hand.
Morobe Education Program Advisor, Keith Jiram, during a visit to the school agreed that the standard of education in rural schools must be raised.
His visits to rural schools are also an opportunity for him to see and hear firsthand the reality of the situation on the ground.
“I want to see teachers speak to me, and I want to see students and parents speak to me in order for me to make reasonable and decisions that will ensure quality education reaches all parts of the
province. “The Five Year Education Plan outlines that our children are our future but how can we the authorities make our students our future if we don’t experience what you experience,” said Jiram.