Ipatas gives uniforms

GIVING identity to students with uniforms is a productive way of en­couraging them to excel in their studies, Enga Governor Peter Ipatas says.
“When we give uniform to students we are giving them an identity and motivation to lift their heads high to be successful in school,” he said when presenting more than K15,000 worth of uniforms to schools in the province last week.
Ipatas told more than 200 teachers and students at Sir Tei Abal Secondary School his government’s continuous presentation of uniforms and putting money on rehabilitating school facilities were major components of his quality education policy.
He said it had cost  the government more than  K150 million in human resource development, mainly on the school subsidy scheme, the quality education policy and other­ institutional esta­blishments such as the Ipatas Foundation and Enga Teachers College.
Ipatas said it was an expensive exercise and a difficult task to manage his provincial education policy in the past 14 years.
But he said he was happy to see the results of the investment.
He said that his government had paid K2 million for uniforms this year, adding the province and country would not have advanced without an educated po­pula­tion.
“Because Enga was last in everything, I thought it would not advance without an educated population when I took office in 1986.
“Therefore, I made a bold decision to give education a priority knowing that other Papua New Gui­neans would respect our province when we had a population that was de­cently educated,” he said.
“That decision was not a mistake.
“I am happy to see the fruits of the decision despite problems that have become a hindrance in our endeavour to be successful with our policy,” he said.
Ipatas said PNG would make a big difference if the government was se­rious about investing in human resource development.