Milestone for Jiwaka Sec

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 13th June 2013

 By TONY EDINBURGH

EIGHTEEN Grade 10 students at Jiwaka Christian Grammar Secondary School in Banz will for the first time sit for the Written Expression examination today.

Principal Willie Aluson said the private school was established to cater for students eligible to continue into Grade 11 but were not selected in other schools.

Aluson said only two secondary schools in Jiwaka – Fatima and Minj – could not take in the increasing number of students enrolling in Grade 11. 

Therefore, many students who had the required marks to continue were left out.

Aluson said Jiwaka Christian was established two years ago to give equal opportunities to everyone to continue their education.

He said after Jiwaka was made a separate province, schools in Western Highlands refused to enrol students from Jiwaka.

However, the school today gives a second chance to those students who would have otherwise missed out.

Students come from all around the country, including Bougainville and Balimo in Western.

The school is run entirely on the project fees collected from students as there is no funding assistance from the national or provincial governments.

The school has 18 staff members, all University of Goroka graduates, teaching the prescribed PNG Secondary Schools curriculum based on Outcomes-Based Education. 

The school has a roll of 420 in Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 who are preparing for the national examinations at the end of the year. 

Chairman of the school Frank Kaman called on the local MPs and the governor to chip in their funding assistance to improve the existing infrastructure at the school.

“We are not running a private business here. 

“All we are doing is to help those unfortunate students who have been denied their rights to education,” Kaman said.