Mendi school of nursing to be reopened

MENDI School of Nursing in Southern Highlands will receive its first batch of intakes next year after the school was burnt down during a tribal fight 10 years ago.
Selections for next year will be made this year and the intakes will begin in January.
In 2000, most of the school’s infrastructure was burnt to the ground amidst a tribal fight forcing the school to close.
Third year students at that time were transferred to ParaMed in Kainantu, Eastern Highlands, while first and second year students were sent to the Lae School of Nursing.
In 2004, talks were made to see the reestablishment of the school, and a year after, a series of meetings was held with relevant authorities to form a committee.
The Mendi School of Nursing restoration committee was formed with school principal, Sr Lucy Langer, in the forefront.
The following year, more meetings were held until in 2007, a school curriculum was designed by Langer and the remaining staff.
Langer said: “The go-ahead was not given to resurrect the school at that time, but that did not stop the committee from working towards their goal to get the place opened up.”
She said their efforts paid off when the provincial government responded that it would allocate funding towards rebuilding the infrastructure.
She said during the re-development process, the provincial government allocated K500,000, soon after it committed K1.3 million for staff housing, and later K242,000 for the remaining work to be carried out.
She said while the provincial government provided the infrastructural development, the department of health provided the material and logistics support at a total cost of K700,000.
She said the school was now set to begin enrolling after the proposed curriculum was approved and recommended last month during a meeting at the Kudjip Nazarene Nursing School in Western Highlands.
Langer said the school would be established to serve the highlands and the country to cater for the increasing intake demand, adding that 10 years ago, the reopening was what she had anticipated.
She said the school curriculum would be launched next month and official invitations would be sent to Governor Anderson Agiru and all MPs in the province, as well as health authorities.
She said Enga Governor Peter Ipatas and Deputy Prime Minister Don Polye were expected to attend the launching.
Langer added that more work was still needed to be carried out and called on other companies operating in the province for assistance as the resurrection of the school would be for the benefit of the province and country.