Early childhood training is important: Official

EARLY childhood and elementary teacher training is important in order to have qualified people at such schools, a senior Morobe education official says.
Morobe senior school inspector Kwinda Trenian said well-equipped and certified teaching personnel would ensure children were given the best start to their education.
Trenian made the remarks during the roll-out and initiation of the 3:6:6 education reform policy in Kabwum, Morobe, over the weekend.
Kabwum, as the pilot district in the province and the country, has implemented the reform of early childhood education (ECE) in all its local level governments (LLG) and ward areas, starting with Selepet and Komba LLGs.
Trenian said the future of the nation’s education system laid on ECE and the Government through the Education Department and national education board after consideration and study of the policy had approved its implementation in the district, province and the country.
He urged teachers, currently teaching in elementary and ECE schools, with grade six, eight, nine and 10 certificates to upgrade their certificates to be able to receive proper training.
“The teachers will have to receive training starting in 2021, at Heldsbach early childhood teacher training centre in Finschhafen to upgrade their skills and knowledge before going into classrooms to teach,” Trenian said.
He said teachers’ education qualifications would be screened before they could attend the college.
Trenian said it was important to lift teaching standards in order to improve the quality of education.
He said the importance of enrolling children as early as possible in ECE was to get them to receive basic education and learn good behaviours, attitudes and language.