No shortage of exam papers: Official

THE Measurement Services Unit in Port Moresby has denied a report in The National yesterday regarding a shortage of Grade Eight national examination papers at some schools in the country.
MSU executive officer for Grade Eight, Collin Loi, said the report disturbed him as it reflected on his work and whether he had done his job on time by dispatching all the examination papers to all the provinces.
“I just want to clear the air that no single province has a shortage of examination papers; the title given was very misleading,” he said.
However, he said Enga province was the only one that had requested seven extra packages, which he dispatched last Tuesday.
“I would have agreed with the report if it was the Enga province,” he said.
Meanwhile, Grade Eight students across the country have already begun their national examinations, with the written expression paper yesterday followed by English, Mathematics and combined subject.
The National caught up with the 165 Grade Eight students at the Sacred Heart Primary School at Hohola in Port Moresby.
Students from this school topped the Grade Eight examinations last year along with St Joseph’s International Catholic College, with most of the 163 students securing a spot at secondary schools to continue onto Grade Nine.
School assessment coordinator, Michael Bourke, told The National they were confident that their students would do well because of their experience over the years and the excellent teaching staff.
“The school is one of the oldest schools, and was established in 1964.
“We have had excellent results from that time on and this year, we expect the same results as in previous years,” he said.
He said the national examination papers would be picked up daily for security reasons and once they were finished, they would be returned to the Education Department.
“This has been the practice since 2004, so we have not encountered any problems whatsoever in the delivery or increased numbers. Our school was well prepared since the beginning of the year as well as our Grade Eight students,” he said.