Confusion over Gr 9 selections

By ZACHERY PER
PARENTS of Grade 8 students attending town primary schools in Goroka yesterday called on Education Minister Theo Zurenuoc to clarify whether there would be Grade 9 selections this year.
Spokesman for the parents John Waiyaki referred to a statement by Zurenuoc during his maiden speech as the new minister that all Grade 8 students would continue on to Grade 9 with no selections.
“Parents and guardians of grade eight students in Goroka wants to Zurenuoc to clarify his statement on selection of grade eight students to go onto grades nine next year,” Waiyaki said.
He said since Zurenuoc’s assurance there had been nothing more and parents and guardians were worried.
Waiyaki said parents supported Zurenuoc because there were increases in street vending, crimes, prostitution and drug and alcohol abuse involving dropouts in Grade Eights.
“School dropouts are the cause of some of the problems in the country today, Zurenuoc’s initiative to allow no dropouts in Grade 8 was welcomed,” he said.
But, he said there were not enough classrooms, dormitory spaces, and other necessary infrastructure in secondary schools to accommodate the high number of Grade 8 students.
A teacher from Asaroka Secondary School in Goroka said the proposal to stop dropouts would only be a reality when spaces in secondary schools increased and others built in every province.
He said it would take some years because most of the infrastructure in secondary schools had been built in the colonial days.