Assessment of damage underway

By Rebecca Kuku
MANY schools and higher institutions in the earthquake-affected areas remain closed as the authorities wait for detailed reports of situations before addressing them,” officials said.
Education Secretary Dr Uke Kombra, pictured, said the Education Department had assigned regional and provincial school inspectors in Southern Highlands, Enga, Hela and Western to check the schools and report back.
“We will also send in some officers from Port Moresby to assess the situation, then we will decide what to do,” the secretary said.
“From information we have received and also from what we have read in the papers, some schools were affected while others were not. But we will need a detailed report from our officers to make a decision.”
Kombra said in the meantime, affected schools remain “unofficially closed”.
Wagia, Mosup, Pingirip, Topa, Tulum, Sol, Bela and Posulim primary schools and the Mongol Secondary High School in Southern Highlands have stopped classes in the aftermath of last week’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the area.
The Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology shares Kombra’s views.
A spokesperson from the office of Minister Pila Niningi said that assessments of damage were underway and reports were yet to be compiled. Meanwhile, Martha Manga, a mum from Southern Highlands, said her children were at home.
“Their school classrooms were not damaged in the big earthquake but with the ongoing earthquakes (aftershocks), we are afraid to send them to school,” she said.
“My second-born daughter is in grade 8 and I am just concerned that stopping her from going to school may affect her studies for the grade 8 examinations at the end of the year.
“The Education Department has to come out and tell us what to expect or do in regards to our children’s education as last year their classes were also disrupted by the elections.”