Embassy helps schools
The National, Thursday October 10th, 2013
By MIRIAM MALAWA
THREE schools have signed a grant contract valued at more than K600,000 with the Japanese Embassy to help in their projects.
The schools are the Professor Schindler Primary School from Eastern Highlands, Umsang Elementary School in Morobe and Kil Primary School, in Madang.
They were given more than K200,000 each for the expansion of school buildings, classrooms and teachers’ houses.
In a small ceremony in Port Moresby yesterday, head teachers and board chairman signed the deal with Japanese ambassador Hiroharu Iwasaki.
As a result of the high influx of students, these schools have been experiencing space shortage and sought help from the embassy under the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects that is awarded yearly.
The project was previously known as the Scale Grant Assistant Programme, which was introduced in 1989 by the embassy and was renamed in 2003 so that projects were more systematically and comprehensively implemented.
It targets non-government organisations and local government authorities to carry out self-help projects to promote economy and social development.
Hiroharu congratulated the schools for being awarded the projects and urged their cooperation.
He said this would benefit the community and provide basic essential education for the children.
“I firmly believe that our grant assistance will help ease classroom shortages faced by the schools and to ensure the provision of classroom buildings and better learning environment,” he said.
The head teachers thanked the embassy for its help.
Kil Primary School head teacher Martin Kadamai said the help was the first of its kind for the school.
He said with little funding from the government, it was not enough to meet the needs of the students and this assistance would make a big difference for the school.