Bank supports early learning

EQUIPPING children at an early age to read and write is fundamental to kick-start a child’s life on the right foot, an official says.
Bank South Pacific (BSP) group general manager retail, Paul Thornton, made this known when announcing BSP’s continued support to the Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) Library Learning Centres in PNG.
Thornton said BSP was continuing its support as a platinum sponsor with over K226,000 to the programme this year.
“BSP is happy to contribute towards the development of our children in PNG, not only through basic numeracy and literacy skills, but also through financial literacy, equipping them with real life skills to sustain and apply in their livelihoods now and in future,” he said.
Thorton said BSP has, so far, invested over K1.4 million since 2012 in assisting Buk bilong Pikinini with their operations, as well as maintaining and sustaining the three libraries in Lae, Goroka and Manus.
BSP stated that it has been supporting BbP since 2014 to ensure the children not only have basic numeracy skills but also understand the real application.
In 2019, financial literacy sessions were introduced at the libraries in partnership with the BSP team to teach the children the value of money and saving through fun and interactive games and activities. These sessions will continue this year across BbP’s library learning centres.
In addition to this, BbP has upgraded its numeracy and pre-Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum to provide the children with an opportunity to learn through play and gain better skills in these subjects before starting school.
The children engage in activities such as counting abacus, shape sorting, measuring objects and body parts, finding materials and weighing them, assessing volumes and much more. BbP founder and chair Anne-Sophie Hermann said: “It was wonderful to see the children so engaged in our new numeracy programme and we are grateful to BSP for their generous long-term support.
“The BSP team have developed a very clever real-life application programme, which paired with the Buk bilong Pikinini curriculum will make the children little number experts.
“BbP’s early childhood development and education programme is all about stimulating the children to develop a love for learning – and great numeracy skills should be no exception.”
BbP is currently working on providing teachers and children with a digital learning platform and would be providing the children with an opportunity to increase their combined digital, literacy and numeracy skills from 2021.
As classes will commence today at BbP library learning centres, BbP is not quite back to normal.
Social distancing and strict hygiene measures are in place as a result of the global pandemic.
Buk bilong Pikinini’s awareness programme includes learning about potentially life-threatening diseases through play and singing to ensure the children remember the lessons taught and take the message home.
BbP has always asked the parents to ensure the children have washed their face, hands and feet before coming to the libraries in the morning.
But the organisation said it would implement strict and mandatory hand washing and sanitising before entry, teaching in smaller groups and on alternate days.