OBE is good but it does not suit PNG

Letters, Normal

I REFER to the letter “Education reforms catastrophic for us” (Oct 20) by Wii Kauma.
I agree with the writer’s comments and I believe there are many more teachers out there who have concern for this country and share similar views.
I teach at a university and I have seen all as described by the writer, including having first hand experience as two of my children passing out under the old system and another under OBE system.
I observed university students having difficulty with comprehension and communication, that is, they do not understand and cannot relay what they want to say.
This is a serious problem that has emerged and must be addressed forthwith.
While the OBE system suits Australia and other developed countries where resource wise they are better equipped, we are just not at that level.
I would like to think it is but there is no doubt OBE does not suit PNG for many reasons, chief among which is a drastic lack of research resources.
Instead, PNG should tailor its own educational needs and not copy other countries.
All I know is the implementation of OBE, which is based on hearsay reports and the upbeat support by a few “educationists” putting in their experiences and own agendas. 
Has any research been done to prove or disprove these ideas? 
There is no proper research on this as far as I know or is there something I may have missed?
Statistical information on progress before and after the OBE are not made available to all institutions, including schools, for you and I to see and assess how we are going which makes it all the more cynical just what is being done to this country.
This has led us to trek up the wrong creek and I hope we can be smart enough to prevent disaster to our human resource.
Grouping Grades Seven and Eight with Grades Nine and 10 (even up to Grade 12) is logical resource wise and knowledge wise.
It certainly puts them in a new frame of mind and level of thinking which will have cascading effects.
Grades Seven and Eight will tap off from the resources of high/secondary school as they will have access to high school teachers, science laboratories, manual arts workshops, library and other resources that mould them in a different level. 
It is a normal human behaviour to step up to the mark when put in a situation and I believe they will do this.
We are affected by a system that will produce lower quality manpower, output and level of thinking, making it all the more difficult for PNG to progress into a modern state.
Is this colonisation in a different form?

 

Concerned educationist
Via email