Official: Early learning vital

By JUNIOR UKAHA
EARLY Childhood Education (ECE) is the way forward to improve education standards in Morobe, an educationist says.
Provincial education coordinator, Haring Qoreka, said this during the opening of two modern classrooms at the Hondokay Elementary School in Kabwum last Friday.
Qoreka, who initiated the project in the district three years ago, said ECE was bearing good results with the children enrolled in the programme doing well.
He said ECE was trialed in Kabwum as a pilot project after he noticed that education levels of primary and secondary students in the province from primary and secondary schools were generally low.
“The idea of introducing this ECE is to support and build a strong foundation for elementary education in the province,” the coordinator said.
“Parents were complaining that their children were not learning well in the elementary and primary school level.
“So we decided that we have to come up with a concept and this has resulted in the birth of ECE.
“For the last three years, we have trialed this project in Kabwum and the results are very promising.”
Qoreka said Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu had given the thumbs up to ECE is the last provincial executive council meeting
He, however, said teachers implementing the ECE programme were not on government payroll.
Qoreka said teachers were living on the generosity of parents and the communities in which they lived and worked.
He said there were more than 100 ECE centres in Kabwum which they planned to expand once funding was received.
“Funding for curriculum development and transportation of materials are some downfalls we are facing,” Qoreka said.
“We hope to get some help from the Government on this.”