‘School first, LNG later’

Hela province may be short of teachers and students when the school year starts next year, Tari-Pori education standards officer Stanley Wambu said.
Mr Wambu told teachers and students at the St Francis of Assisi Kuluanda Primary School in Tari on Tuesday that the LNG project would distract people from their normal routine of doing things, including going to school.
He told them to be wary of the changes and developments that would be unfolding.
Mr Wambu was concerned that teachers and students might leave class and “dash off to work in the LNG project”, especially in the early works and construction phase of the project where millions of kina would be floating around in Tari and Hela.
He urged teachers to be committed to their job in teaching and educating the future generation of Hela and PNG instead of jumping off for greener pastures with the short-term well-paid job with the LNG project.
Mr Wambu noted that 37 of the more than 70 Grade Eight students at Kuluanda had been selected to do Grade Nine next year at the Tari secondary school.
Other secondary and high schools in Hela would also be selecting other students from Kuluanda.
Dux of the graduating class Emily Lialu thanked teachers for their time and efforts over the years in teaching and educating them.