Students pioneer programme

National

By THOMAS HUKAHU   
ONCE in a while you hear of stories where a first lot of students graduate from a new school amid challenges of sorts, or pioneer a new programme introduced in their school by its administration. But even rarer would you find a pioneer class comprised of just girls in a co-educational institution.
Such will be the case for Cassandra Cullen and Marytheresa Tanby who are the only two Grade 12 students at the Institute of Christian Academy (ICA) in Port Moresby, where they are pioneer students in studying dual curricula – the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) and the PNG Education Department’s.
ICA has graduated Grade 12 students in the past but they were taught under ACE.
Tanby and Cullen are paving the way for other students in the 1150-student enrolment of ICA.
In August, while the two were sitting the written expression exam, school principal Richard Lan said Cullen and Tanby were two of the first six Grade 10 students who studied both curricula two years ago.
ICA founder and director Tobias Nangunduo spoke highly of the two students.
“I have never heard them complain of the challenges as pioneers of their study programme at ICA,” Nangunduo said.
Lan said: “The other four students, all girls, opted to do their Grades 11 and 12 at Port Moresby National High School after Grade 10 in 2014.
Cullen and Tanby decided to continue studying the two curricula at ICA.”
Lan said the two girls would sit for their English, maths A, physics, chemistry and geography exams starting next Monday.
Institute of Christian Academy also offers Bahasa Indonesia as a school-based subject.
Cullen visited Indonesia recently after winning an award for a speech contest in the language.