Education standard in NGI down

The standard of education in the New Guinea Islands region is dropping and this is a major cause for concern that must be addressed.
National Education Board member representing the region, Bruno Babato, said despite being known as a peaceful region, NGI came last in the Grade 10 examination results last year while the Highlands region which was known for its many tribal fights came first.
Mr Babato was speaking during the closing dinner hosted by Manus Secondary School for the 167th National Education Board meeting which was held in Manus province last week.
Mr Babato called on the leaders in the Islands region to start taking education seriously and invest more in the human resources of the region.
Member representing the Highlands Peter Wama said education in the Highlands region was doing well because the leaders recognised the importance of developing its human resources by way of investing a lot in education.
“Provinces like Enga have had free education for its students for a while now and the results are that a lot of students from that province are graduating from our universities in the country,” Mr Wama said.
Meanwhile, secretary for the Education Dr Joseph Pagelio thanked the people of Manus province for their hospitality during the week long meeting in the province.
In responding to calls from the Manus Secondary School for funds for the maintenance of school infrastructure, Dr Pagelio said the K230 million for the rehabilitation of education school infrastructure (RESI) was taken away from the Department of Education, but the department would did its best to secure funding to improve the infrastructure of secondary schools in the country.