Board likely to close school over funding issues

Kawil High School in Jimi is likely to be shut down due to lack of funding assistance from the Jiwaka government.
School board of management chairman Chris Golomb and headmaster Philip Akis revealed this in a statement.
They said the school was a project of the provincial government under Governor Dr William Tongamp, pictured.
“While the people of Jimi appreciate this important project in the district, the school has been underfunded, resulting in the imminent closure of the facility,” the statement said.
“The school project is the brainchild of the current regime and constant funding is required to ensure smooth operations till the end of the academic year.
“We, the board and management of the school, cannot afford to close the school early as we do not want to deprive the rights of the students to education.”
The school was registered in March and is yet to receive tuition fee-free funding.
“Due to inconsistency in funding, we’ve been operating on credit basis and you can imagine our bills are mounting to this day,” the statement said.
“We cannot continue to operate in this trend.
“Business houses that cooperated with us in the first place are reluctant to help us anymore. We are definitely in a dire situation and need to be bailed out soon or we face closure.”
The school has 80 boarding students and 130 day students.
Of the school’s six teachers, only two are on the government payroll.
“We’ve come to a stage where we can’t go any further and therefore our final appeal also goes to any individuals, organisations, donor agencies and NGOs who wish to chip in to help,” the statement said.