Christian teachers needed

Weekender

By Rev SEIK PITOI
IN THESE days of lawlessness among many school children, as seen with inter-school fights, cult “system” activities, drug and alcohol abuse, etc., the announcement by Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari some time ago to include Christian ethics and teachings in schools was great news to many parents.
While our democratic status permits other religions to practise their beliefs in our country, this ruling lines up with the fact that, as enshrined in our national constitution, PNG is a Christian country!
In teachers training colleges around the country, as part of the curriculum, I’m told there already is a segment on teaching Christian religious education. Teachers, whether they are Christians or not, are instructed on how to teach the Bible’s values in class. But as one former lecturer said, “there is not much evidence of this training being utilised by many graduate teachers, simply because some may not be Christians. You cannot force someone to teach something he doesn’t believe in”. That in itself poses a problem.
The Department of Education has also risen to the task by putting together a curriculum for schools as part of normal classroom lessons. The Citizenship and Christian Values Education” programme, written in 2018, seeks to instil in young people Christian and other positive values that will be of benefit to their lives as useful citizens of our nation.
School teachers, regardless of religious persuasion, will be required to teach these lessons. While over 90 per cent of people in PNG are affiliated in some way with Christianity, including teachers, the lifestyle and actions of many speaks differently. Our actions reflect our beliefs. Thus, teaching a child biblical values will need more than just a well written text book.
Many Christian parents train their children in Christian values at home, but the large part of the child’s time is spent in school under the influence of teachers, and more so, peers and classmates. The values learnt at home will always be tested at school.
To enforce these positive values, schools include spiritually enriching weekly programmes such as Scripture Union and Christian Religious Education (CRE). CRE teachers, usually unemployed Christian young people, pastors or mothers from certain denominations, use their own time to go to schools to teach Bible-based lessons and have fellowship with their students. This is an excellent partnership many schools have with the churches.
However, not all schools have CRE teachers, and not all classes are covered. Some churches do not play their part in identifying those who can teach a class or two at nearby schools. Moreover, there is another problem: many CRE teachers know their Bible and lessons well but are not trained to teach young children. Some talk to their class as if they were on the pulpit at church on Sunday, while others preach like it’s a crusade! That too, poses another problem.
Over the years, the education department has run workshops in churches for CRE and Sunday school teachers. Some churches also facilitate such in-house training, using their own resource people. But there is nothing on a regular and consistent basis open for all churches.
One person, however, has been trying to meet that need. In his humble little setup based at the Hohola United Church grounds in NCD, Susuve Sevesoa, a retired teachers’ college lecturer, operates his Hohola Community College.
“I started my college in 1998 but it was officially launched in 2000 by the then Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta. We are a registered college and run courses accredited to the National Training Council (NTC),” he said.
“We began by offering only technical courses, and then we moved from our previous location to the church grounds in 2014.
“Today, we concentrate mainly on business studies and early childhood training which includes pre-school training and Christian education teacher training. I like to help churches by giving professional certified training to their teachers so we can make a greater impact in the lives of the children we are grooming for the future”, he said.
On the subject of business studies, Sevesoa said, “I don’t believe our young teachers will be teaching CRE all their lives. Some churches can afford to pay a good amount as stipends to their teachers to take care of their livelihood, while others cannot, usually paying just a few kina for bus fare. These teachers make a real sacrifice to get from school to school”, he added.
With this concern, the college also runs business studies courses. In this segment, the student learns basic accounting, office administration, sales and marketing, hospitality and tourism, business communication and business mathematics. This component trains the teacher for future employment, should he choose that path.
“Because we are a church-based college, our course fees are very affordable. In less than a year, a student graduates with a recognised certificate. We also arrange work place attachment as practical for our students. I am pleased to say a good number of our students are already working with companies and government departments,” he said.
Sevesoa, a retired deacon with the United Church, began teacher training at the Madang Teachers College. He served for seven years in schools in the Southern Highlands, then spent the next 15 years as a lecturer at teachers’ colleges around PNG. His final post was at Gaulim Teachers College in East New Britain from 1990 to 1995.
He holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of PNG with a component studied at the Canberra University, ACT. He has a capable teaching team assisting him. They are: Anna Haro (Early Childhood coordinator), Sarea Memairi (Business Studies), Dr Soi Poukava and Lindsey Simeon (Christian Education).
There is one need he has, though, and that is to see how his trained CRE teachers can be integrated by the Department of Education into the teaching of the Citizenship and Christian Values programme.
“Our trained CRE teachers can assist the classroom teacher teach the Bible component of the course. That is a win-win situation for both parties. I’m sure with proper consultation, we can come up with a workable solution that will benefit everyone. It would also be nice to receive some form of government sponsorship to assist our college so we can run our teaching programmes effectively. The main beneficiaries will of course be the school children we are trying to help,” he said.
This year, due to Covid-19, the college is running two instead of three batches, with the last batch to graduate in November. The current class has over a dozen CRE and Sunday school teachers from the Gerehu United Church, plus a couple of young people from the Catholic Church and others.
Livata Tau, a teacher from Gerehu, said he was glad to be attending the course.
“I am particularly interested in the integral human development topic of early childhood development. It is helping us better understand the kids we are teaching,” he said.
Sevesoa invited the United Church and others to send their workers in to be properly trained.
“We owe it to our children to ensure those who teach them about the Bible each week are adequately trained to do so.”
His offer also extends to individuals wishing to get trained in business studies and other courses his college is offering at a very affordable price.
Indeed, what Hohola Community College is offering is worth looking into!

Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.

One thought on “Christian teachers needed

  • include lessons in family, community& social ethics, history etc.Balance the learning scale.personel development just as important to trade skills

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