No student should be forced out

 IN the 2014 national grade eight examinations a primary school in Markham Valley, Morobe, achieved one of the best results in its history. 

One of the two grade eight teachers at the school reported that nearly half of the students who had sat for the examination in 2014 made the pass mark, which meant they were eligible to continue in grade 9. However, the joy and sense of achievement for a number of those students was short-lived. 

The only secondary school in the entire Markham plains, Markham Valley Secondary, cannot take in all the selected students from the primary school concerned because there are other students to consider from schools from other parts of the district.  For now Markham Valley is the only secondary school in that part of the province catering for grade nine students coming out of the primary schools in the wide plains and the surrounding hill country.

This is a very critical situation in Markham and the situation is multiplied in many other districts throughout the country.  

Many deserving young boys and girls who should continue in their secondary education would be denied that opportunity because of a lack of classroom spaces in existing schools and urged to pursue other avenues.

Elsewhere, there is a need for whole new secondary schools to be built.  

Next door to the Markham district, the Usino-Bundi district and indeed the entire Madang province is facing the same problem.

Madang provincial education director Moses Sariki reportedly recently that more than 7000 grade eight students passed their national examinations but only 2000 plus would get spaces to continue grade nine in the nine high schools in the province. This is cause for concern because the prerequisite for entry into tertiary institutions, whether it is a two-year nursing diploma or a four-year agriculture degree, is a grade 12 certificate.  

Years ago, a grade 10 certificate would allow a student to enter a teacher’s college or nursing school but that is no longer the case.

If chances for Grade 10 certificate holders entering institutions of higher learning are next to nil, grade 8 graduates who are pushed out of the education system have  little or no hope.

The National Education Department’s 2-6-6 policy is aimed at availing all school going children the opportunity to complete year 12 before they are ‘pushed out’ of the formal education system to either continue in tertiary level training or pursue self-employment and other life opportunities.

The chances of an average Papua New Guinean child attaining an education at year 12 level are therefore far better than ever given the policies in place.  

However, as many have pointed out, the policies create stiff competition for very limited spaces available. What do we do to the many children who pass through grade 8 and are qualified to proceed to grade 9 but cannot be accommodated in the existing high schools and secondary schools?  

The education policy aims to ensure that every child obtains two years of elementary, six years of primary, and a further six of secondary education. That looks good on paper but on the ground, a lot of work needs to be done yet. There is an urgent need for more secondary schools in the districts.  

While members of parliament and their bureaucrats in some provinces have made progress in planning and establishing additional schools, progress has been slow or stagnant in other provinces. In the past the situation of primary school students seeking placing in secondary school had not been as worrisome as it is today.  

The O’Neill Government’s tuition fee free education policy has opened the door to many more students than the existing schools and teacher numbers can cater for.  

The policy may unintentionally compromise quality in education because of the sheer number of students getting in through the doors of the limited number of classrooms to be taught by some of the most overworked public servants.  

To make the Government’s tuition fee free policy to have its intending effect no student who is eligible should be turned away. The only way to achieve that is allocate money for a schools infrastructure plan throughout the country.