Education will be made compulsory, Marape says

 STUDENTS will benefit from the compulsory education policy in the future, Education Minister James Marape says.

Marape said the Government planned to make compulsory education a priority.

“Compulsory education is expensive and we expect it to stretch the budget but we are prepared to face it,” he said.

“There should be no more excuses from parents to keep their children at home.”

He said basic education started at home and parents should be responsible for their children’s education.

He said the Education Department planned the expansion of teacher colleges and technical colleges to cater for more students and teachers.

He said only 75% of children were in school.

“We want more children in classrooms. We will  train more teachers and install new facilities in schools,” Marape said.

Newly-confirmed Education secretary Dr Michael Tapo said the department would focus more on students, teachers and learning facilities.

“To do this, standards must be in place,” Tapo said.

“We will introduce induction and social programmes to replace the old programmes.”