Dept to start schools of excellence concept

By DULCIE OREKE
THE schools of excellence concept, which starts next year, will take in the top 1% of students in high schools in the country.
The students will be selected to one of the seven schools of excellence in the country.
The top 1% will be selected under government scholarship to train overseas for specific skills that the country needs, starting in 2013, deputy education secretary – teaching and standards, Damien Rapese said last week.
He said selected students from these schools would then return to the country under a five to six-year bond programme with the government, before pursuing their own careers.
Schools to be turned into schools of excellence include Passam, Sogeri, Keravat and Wawin high schools, Kabiufa Secondary School and Port Moresby National High School (POMNaths). 
Addressing graduating students at POMNaths last week on behalf of Education Minister James Marape, he said the ministry had allocated K2 million to the school from the 2010 subsidy for infrastructure development to realise the concept.
“I am pleased to also tell you that this concept of schools of excellence and universal basic education (UBE) was endorsed by the national executive council at their Enga meeting last year.”
He highlighted that the prime minister and the cabinet were very supportive towards making the education sector work. 
Rapese said cabinet was giving support to have greater emphasis placed on the education sector through LNG revenue to match government’s desire to realise the UBE, technical vocational education training, community college, FODE and the schools of excellence concepts, among the many interventions it is making towards building an educated population.