Free education policy will not solve real problems, says Ipatas

ENGA Governor Peter Ipatas told a school in Eastern Highlands that the government’s free education policy would only bail out parents but the real problems facing schools would remain unresolved.
Ipatas, who pioneered the “free education” philosophy in his province since 1997, said the real problems of lack of spaces in the classrooms, teachers’ accommodation, salaries, and
materials, among a host of other problems, should be addressed using the K300 million to K400 million earmarked for free education.
Ipatas highlighted this while addressing the second Grade 12 graduation at the Asaroka Lutheran Secondary School in Daulo district, Eastern Highlands.
He said the Enga government had subsidised school fees for the first 10 years but then realised that this created more problems in schools so he had changed his policy to give priority to supporting teachers and extending school facilities.
“There were problems in the education system of this country but the government had not taken any step to address it,” he said.
Ipatas said if his party got into government, he would revisit the elementary system and support teachers because elementary education was the foundation.
The lack of adequate support toward the education system had resulted in the decline of the quality of education in the country, he said.
The administration of Asaroka Lutheran Secondary School invited Ipatas to be guest speaker. Other politicians from Eastern Highlands were invited but none showed up.
Ipatas told the packed crowd that education was a key for the future but its state was so depressing it broke his heart.
“I introduced free education in Enga when I was elected as governor because I saw that education was the way to support.
“But now many provincial governments, including the national government, are adopting my policy,” Ipatas said.