Give children a fair go to education

 IN the 2014 national Grade 8 examinations a primary school in Markham Valley, Morobe, achieved one of its best results in its history. 

One of the two teachers who teaches the grade eight classes there reported that nearly half of the students who had sat for the examination in 2014 made the pass mark, meaning they are eligible to continue to Grade 9.

However, the joy and sense of achievement for a number of those students is going to be shortlived. 

The only secondary sch­ool in the entire Mark­ham plains, Markham Valley Se­condary cannot take in all the selected students from the primary school in question because there are other students to consider from schools from other parts of the district. 

For now Markham Valley is the only secondary school in that part of the province catering for Grade 9 students coming out of the primary schools in the plains and the surrounding hill country.

This is a very critical situation in Markham and the situation is multiplied in many other districts throughout the country.  

A lot of deserving young boys and girls who should continue in their secondary education will be denied that opportunity because of a lack of classroom spaces in existing schools and will be urged to pursue other avenues.

Elsewhere, there is a need for new secondary schools to be built. Next door to Markham district, Usino-Bundi district and an entire province in Madang is facing the exact same problem as well.

Madang provincial education director Moses Sariki reportedly recently that more than 7000 Grade 8 students in the province passed their national examinations but only 2000-plus will get spaces to continue Grade 9 in the nine high schools.

This is cause for concern because the pre-requisite for entry into tertiary education, whether it is a two-year nursing diploma or a four-year agriculture degree, is a Grade 12 certificate.  Years ago, a Grade 10 certificate would allow one to enter a teachers college or nursing school but that is no longer the case. If chances for Grade 10 certificate holders entering institutions of higher learning are next to nil, Grade 8 graduates, who are pushed out of the education system, have very little hope.

The National Education Department’s 2-6-6 policy is aimed at availing all school going children the opportunity to complete Year 12 before they are ‘pushed out’ of the formal education system to either continue in tertiary level training or pursue self-employment and other life opportunities.

The chances of an average Papua New Guinean child attaining an education at Year 12 level are therefore far better than ever given the policies in place.  

However, as many have pointed out, the policies create stiff competition for  the very limited spaces available.

What do we do to the many children who pass through Grade 8 and are qualified to proceed to Grade 9 but cannot be accommodated in the existing high schools and secondary schools?  

The education policy aims to ensure that every child obtains two years of elementary, six years of primary, and a further six of secondary education. 

That looks good on paper but on the ground, a lot of work needs to be done yet.

There is need for more secondary schools in districts.  

While Members of Parliament and their provincial bureaucrats in some provinces have made progress in planning and establishing additional schools, in other provinces progress has been slow or stagnant.

In the past the situation of primary school students seeking placing in secondary school had not been as worrisome as it is today.  

The current government’s tuition fee free education policy has opened the door to a lot more students than the existing schools and teacher numbers can cater for.  

The policy may unintentionally compromise quality in education because of the sheer number of students getting in through the doors of the limited number of classrooms to be taught by some of the most overworked public servants. It is hardly the way to make an educated Papua New Guinea .