Madang phases out tokples lessons

LOCAL vernacular will not be taught at elementary schools in Madang starting this year.
Also, all students doing Grade 8 will proceed into Grade 9 without school leavers.
Provincial administrator Joseph Dorpar told a media conference that the current usage of local vernacular in elementary school would be abolished and English would be taught.
He said the concept was not to do away with the current education reform system.
Mr Dorpar said they were making little changes that would lift education in Madang.
He also revealed that the elementary year one and two would also be part of the community school, as in the old system and not separated as in the current system where there were so many elementary schools all over the place.
Mr Dorpar said there were more than 167 languages in Madang and to teach these different languages was difficult and the province had come up with the policy to have one uniform language which is English because it was the common language of business and instruction in PNG like other English-speaking countries.
He said the province had experienced poor performances by students with the introduced elementary schools learning their vernacular and the province wanted to get away from that.
Meanwhile, the provincial administration and the provincial government under its no Grade 8 phase-out programme has identified and selected six primary schools in six districts to become intermediate schools to take in Grades 9 and 10 students as part of the provincial government policy.
The policy will allow all Grade 8 students to continue on to do Grade 9 under the no Grade 8 phase-out programme.
Mr Dorpar said Grade 8 examinations would continue as a way to measure their performance but there would be no push out as it used to be in the current system.