Investing in high quality early childhood education

PROVISION of early childhood education in Pa¬pua New Guinea (PNG) is not new. There are many organisations that have been offering it for many years. However, formalised training for early childhood educators has been through short courses and conducted at certificate levels offered mainly by non-governments organisations. Amongst the or¬ganisations that have provided training for pre-school teachers are Country Women’s Association (CWA) and Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). These short training programmes have, no doubt, pro¬duced some of the best practioners in the field of early childhood education in PNG. However, over the last decade, there is an increase in the number of Papua New Guineans undergoing overseas training in the field of Early Childhood Education under AusAID scholarship scheme. However most of the graduates from overseas universities have been getting absorbed into the private school system which can pay them bet¬ter. Consequently, the state school system is missing out on the expertise that should enhance the system and bring it to the next level.
More recently in PNG, the International Educa¬tion Agency (IEA) Tertiary And Further Education (TAFE) is offering Certificate 4 programme. The Uni¬versity of Goroka is now the pioneer Higher Education Institution in PNG which has a vision to influence and train quality early childhood teachers of this nation. It is leading the way in PNG by investing in its home grown Early Childhood Education program.
The University of Goroka aims to offer high quality training and preparation of early childhood educators and managers of early childhood education facili¬ties in PNG and the South-West Pacific. Currently it is running the Early Childhood Education program which is of international standard at the Diploma level. The program was launched by Dame Carol Kidu early 2010.
The Diploma programme is an exit pathway from a four year degree programme already approved by the University’s Academic Board. The degree programme will be commencing as soon as the diploma program is consolidated. Although the early childhood edu¬cation at the University of Goroka is just ending its second year, it is already making its hallmark in the community and the nation as a whole. The University is collaborating with potential partners on this project.
Currently, there is a total of sixty-four students. Twenty-five of these are pioneering students who have just completed their final semester and 39 first year students in the Early Childhood Programme. The students come from a wide clientelle base which rep¬resents private schools, community operated schools and Elementary Schools throughout the country. With information slowly reaching out to the country re¬sulting in current high demand for the program, this number is expected to increase sharply next year.
The programme takes a clinical approach to train¬ing and is therefore, linked to its model school, the Humilavekah Early Learning Centre (HELC). The HELC was opened on the 20 August, 2010 with an enrolment of 40 children. This number has grown to 70 children this year.
HELC provides immediate opportunities for the trainees to observe children, observe staff demon¬strations on early childhood pedagogies and practices and do their practical with the children. The Humi¬lavekah Early Learning Centre is guided by its Early Learning Standards which forms the basis for the curriculum used at the model school, the lesson prep¬arations and assessment and monitoring. The Early Learning Standards is a curriculum resource which provides benchmarks for different age groups and di¬rects teaching topics.
Additional training through workshops comprising training early literacy and communication series are conducted on weekly basis. These provide personal development for trainees in many areas that cannot be covered during the normal lectures or practical.
The Early Childhood Education programme is cur¬rently staffed by highly qualified and experienced staff. It is expected that with an increase in student numbers, staffing will also increase in the not too dis¬tant future.
The Way Forward For Education In PNG.
The Early Childhood Education programme of¬fered by the University of Goroka is the way forward for this nation. As mentioned in the last paper, re¬search has shown that investment in early childhood education has overwhelming benefits for children in PNG. It is the right time now for stakeholders and policy makers to consider the education system in our country in a holistic approach.
For far too long, investment in the PNG’s educa¬tion has been made in a fragmented approach. For example, we introduced the Outcome-Based Educa¬tion which we have now thrown out after fifteen years of investing in it. Now our focus is on investing in schools of excellence.
The basis for schools of excellence in PNG is in in¬vesting in excellent early childhood education. As the saying goes, "you reap what you sow". This means that if PNG lays a strong foundation in children’s edu¬cation by investing in high quality early childhood education, the outcome will be that the nation will produce children who are well prepared and have the necessary qualities to meet the challenges of the future schools of excellence. If PNG does not invest in quality early learning experience for children, it will produce children who will not meet the required standards for the schools of excellence.
The government of PNG through its national in¬stitution, the University of Goroka, is leading the way by investing in training its nation’s teachers to become global teachers of children who will become global citizens from the cradle (early childhood) to the PhD.
For further information about this programme, contact the author.
The writer is a senior lecturer in Educational Psy¬chology, Guidance and Counselling & Early Child¬hood Education, University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea
Contacts: Email: [email protected] or Phone: 5311830/5311805