Initiation of college praised

I ACKNOWLEDGE the Morobe government, the Lutheran Church and the Government for green lighting the Elementary Teachers College at the 23rd Lutheran Synod in Boana.
This is a timely move for the province.
Just like other provinces, Morobe is still trialing various intervention efforts though it is yet to reach a certain level of quality and a sustainable programme.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Efforts by our development partners are also impressive and welcomed.
But they are hanging all their invaluable resources, skill and knowledge on branches where it will be easily blown away by the wind and washed down by the rain of time and will.
For example, efforts by World Vision’s Library for all concept and the Bilum Books and KTF’s Teach for Tomorrow 2 project to name a few beside the formal educational intervention measures throughout Morobe needs a permanent residence.
Appropriate authorities should begin pulling strings to get the ball rolling.
This is long overdue for our hardworking elementary teachers.
I think quality and sustainable early childhood and elementary teacher education has been kicked around like a ball for long enough.
It has been hanging and swinging between hardworking development partners and PNG Education Institute in Port Moresby and several pockets throughout the provinces like an egg hanging in space without a nest.
Can Morobe lead the way to institutionalise it and find its permanent resting place as announced?
The blame game on vernacular as a poor foresight in OBE or the planning, implementation and monitoring mechanism failure by stakeholders and the poor political will is now a lesson for us all to learn from and move on.
Simply laying off several hundreds of elementary teachers does not guarantee a safe passage for the state.
Are we going to dump them just like that with the introduction of SBE with the 1.6.6 restructuring in education?
Let us be more realistic by pulling people and resources together and give these teachers a fresh hope for their remaining years of service.
They are emotionally and psychologically disturbed right now.
The most sensible thing to do now for those who are unable to do upgrade is to have them complete two years training in early childhood in an Elementary Teacher Training College with possibly a certificate or diploma in phonetics and how language is learned naturally. These teachers already come with a wealth of experience and need some top up icing with phonics and numeracy skills for toddlers, daycare and preschool aged children as well as skills for E1 and E2.
These teachers need quality training to be able to teach English.
However, learning English is not the problem.
The real issue right now is about ‘how” English can be best taught and learned.
A misconception about a simple village child who speaks his language from dawn to dusk is assumed to be able to speak grammatically correct English just like his urban counterpart whose parents speak English to him at home.
This is technically impossible from the current standpoint unless sound method and principles are followed.
Maybe the contextualised approached will be more sensible for a multi-lingual and a multi-cultural people like us.
A “one-size-fit all” may work well for semi-urban or urban communities.
But how about the rural majority that is separated and disadvantaged by an unequal distribution of opportunities in education, wealth and basic services.
An equal and comparative or competitive opportunity in education is what these kids need?
I think this too is long overdue.
Our children regardless of their context are as intelligent as anybody else in the world.
All they need is an equal opportunity.
As an observer in education, I am saddened by the fact that decentralisation and regional institutionalisation of early childhood education has been hijacked for the last 20 years or so.
I am with you the Morobeans.
It is time now. Can someone fast tract this issue and make it happen to save our fast sinking foundation?

Concerned Citizen