Angoram school lacks classrooms

A NUMBER of students at the Angoram Town Primary School in East Sepik were sent home last week due to the limited number of classrooms.
School head teacher George Timbun said students from the lower grades were sent home to wait for temporary arrangements to be made.
“Grades one, two, three, four and five students have no classrooms and are now back home with their parents.
“From each grade, we have three streams; multiplying that will give you 15 classes, with at least 30 students in each class.
“We need more space to cater for them,” Timbun said.
Upper primary students, grades six, seven and eight, have started classes using the existing facilities.
Timbun said the school doesn’t have the infrastructure to cater for the student population, which had been the case for many years.
“Many of our classrooms have deteriorated and are not fit for learning,” he said.
Timbun said currently, the school did not have the financial capability to operate.
“Last year, the school administration failed to submit the school census form, resulting in us missing out on the first quarter funding,” he said.
Timbun said because of this, he met with the East Sepik Education Board and they had issued him a circular that allowed him to charge school fees.
“Based on this circular and a parents and citizens meeting on Tuesday, parents agreed to pay a K70 fee per student.
“The money will be used to build a temporary classroom to cater for the affected students,’’ he said
Timbun said he would do his best to ensure classes resume.