GG: Write textbooks for PNG

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By DORISH KAMBA

ALL intellects must produce books on their specialist subject areas for students and teachers in PNG.
Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane challenged the intellects who witnessed the launch of the 2nd book on Upper Secondary Chemistry by Dr Basil Marasinghe yesterday.     
The Upper Secondary Chemistry book two is based on the new education syllables for Grades 11 and 12 that were implemented by the Department of Education in the last two years and will be used by secondary schools this year.
They will replace the old chemistry text book, also written by Dr Marasinghe.
During his speech at the launch, Sir Paulias said: “Apart from the widely talked about LNG project, there are many other industries such as gold, copper, nickel and petroleum that  we can add value to
and export.
“We need qualified chemists to work in those industries and chemists to monitor the environmental effects caused by industries and minimise pollution.
“Books such as the one we launched today will go a long way in encouraging our children to take up science, particularly chemistry at high school and university level and become chemists.”
Dr Marasinghe said: “Most of the chemistry books available have been written by authors who do not have adequate experience of the chemical industry.
“Consequently, such books fail to show the connection between theory and industry.” 
“Many of these books were too long and too hard to  understand and boring to read leaving students believe, albeit wrongly, that chemistry is a boring and difficult subject. Students must love the subject in order to be good at it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Education Minister James Marape’s message, read by Dr Michael Tapo from the Education Department was: “All students require an understanding of the fundamental science concepts, processes, skills, attitudes and values in order to apply these meaningfully in daily situations and it’s vital for PNG to become scientifically literate to participate effectively in this era of changing technology.”
He challenged secondary and national high school teachers to make use of the new textbook by ensuring that students acquire the desired chemistry knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.
The launching price of the book was K70 and today has risen to K90.