Dropout Benjamin today runs his own school

By LORRAINE JIMAL
LEFT on his own as a young boy in the village after his father died and his mother re-married, Benjamin Mul had no idea what the future held for him.
But today, he holds two degrees and runs a school he set up in Port Moresby to give school dropouts a second chance in education.
Benjamin, 54, is from Kaming village in the Nondgul local level government, Jiwaka.
He is the youngest in a family of three – a sister and two brothers. He was brought up by relatives when his father passed away and his mother remarried.
“My father died when I was small and my mother married another man. I was alone in the village.”
Today he is the director and principal of the Waigani Christian Academy School in Port Moresby, thanks to his reliance and faith in God.
He completed Grade Six at the Jiwaka Primary School in 1970 and stayed in the village, not sure what his future would be.
One day, the Evangelical Brother’s missionaries came to the village to spread the word of God. Young Benjamin joined the church and gave his life to God. He attended church services and Sunday school.
His life turned around when he attended a vocational school, and later private schools before taking up a Bachelor in Education degree programme at the University of PNG.
He was told that he needed some practical teaching sessions before graduating.
So he asked the missionaries for land to build a school for pre-school children.
The only teaching experience he had was in Sunday school in the village, but he managed to teach 13 students to pass the degree programme at the university.
The school slowly grew to include elementary classes, then primary, and later high school.
Benjamin did not go through the normal education system but still managed to make it through to university, and setting up the Waigani Christian Academy in 1993 to give school dropouts a second chance in education.
“I am giving those students who dropped out in Grade Eight, Grade 10 and Grade 12 a chance to have another go because like me, they can be (successful) in future.”
Because of the increasing number of students, Benjamin decided to upgrade his academic qualifications to help him run the school and build the confidence and trust parents, teachers and students have in him.
He enrolled at the Divine Word University and graduated with a Masters’ degree in education leadership last year.

“ I am glad that as a private citizen, I am able to develop human resources in PNG using my own resources.”

“I went to the DWU because I want teachers, parents and students to have confidence and trust in me, that I can run an institution like the Waigani Christian Academic School.
“Running a school like this as a director or principal, one must have academic qualifications, otherwise people might not have confidence in you.”
Parents, teachers and students helped him celebrate his academic achievements during the school graduation last month.
“I am glad that as a private citizen, I am able to develop human resources in PNG using my own resources.”
Mul plans to create e-learning for students next year and hopefully upgrade the school into a university in five to 10 years’ time.
He wants to introduce moodle, an open source of learning management system, or e-learning as a paper-less system for students who can use computer laptops to study and have online classes.
Benjamin, the former school dropout and Sunday school teacher, continues to reach new heights.
“Faith in God can take you to any height you want!”