K9.7m to build school infrastructures

AUSTRALIA will provide K9.7 million through the incentive fund to build secondary school infrastructure and construct a consolidated trade training centre for Kairuku and Goilala districts in Central.
The funding will allow for an increase of at least 320 school places at Mainohana Secondary School and enable the construction of four trade workshops for students who want to combine formal education with practical trade skills such as mechanics, welding or metalwork.
Until recently, each district had one trade training centre. 
The centre in Kairuku, on Yule Island, was difficult for students to access and suffered from poor attendance rates while the one in Woitape, Goilala, was closed for similar reasons.
The Australian funding will allow for the relocation of both trade training centres to Mainohana and to form a shared facility under one school administration, a move supported by the provincial education division.
In addition to the four trade workshops, Australia will fund the construction of four dormitories, two ablution and laundry blocks and a double-storey classroom block, comprising six classrooms and an office, which will increase the size of Mainohana Secondary School by 50%.
The dormitories will also be equip with bunk beds while the classrooms with desks and chairs and the trade workshops with machinery, equipment and tools.
Australian High Commissioner to PNG Ian Kemish said the project represented a significant boost for secondary and vocational education in Central.
“There are two reasons why this is a project of such significance.  Firstly, this project places a larger and better equipped school and trade training centre in closer proximity to a bigger population of school-aged children. This means, more children can attend secondary school.
“Secondly, it will give those children who will or have already dropped out of secondary school the opportunity for a second chance at a vocational education where they will learn a valuable skill for life, like mechanics,” Kemish said.
The incentive fund is a partnership between Australia and PNG and is funded by AusAID.  It supports organisations to access funding for innovative projects that have strong development impacts for the people.