MP relieves parents, students of disaster pressures

By ZACHERY PER
STUDENTS from Gumine in Chimbu attending universities and tertiary institutions have been allocated K1 million as school fee assistance.
Gumine MP and Education Minister Lucas Dekena said the assistance was to relief the additional burden for parents at a time when the people’s
livelihood was severely affected by the recent floods and landslides that killed 20 persons, injured numerous and destroyed hundreds of homes and properties.
Gumine chief executive officer Daing Kill was at the University of Goroka (UoG) with the district’s school fee assistance programme officers to present K119,500 to 84 Gumine students, and K13,800 to Goroka and Kundiawa Institute of Distant and Flexible Learning students.
Kil said Dekena had a vision to restore normalcy in communities by taking over the parents’ burden of school fees, as well as rejuvenating micro economic activities after the disasters.
He encouraged the 87 Gumine students at UoG to study hard and bring back home good academic results to make their parents proud.
“I urge you to do your best to score good marks to make your MP happy as well as your parents so they feel relieved after the disaster,” Kil said.
Gumine school fee coordinator Kumson Moses said Dekena made available K1 million for school fee assistance and from that amount, UoG students received the highest amount of K119, 500.
He said they were disbursing monies to universities, colleges, technical colleges, teacher colleges and other institutions, including private schools.
“We deposited the fees according to the number of students from Gumine in that particular institution and are delivering deposit receipts, list of beneficiaries and voucher documents,” Moses said.