Partnership aims to train elementary school teachers

Business

ExxonMobil PNG in partnership with the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) have provided more than K700,000 towards training teachers.
The operator of the PNG LNG project and the Australian non-government organisation will combine with government agencies to provide training, upskilling and development of teachers in remote and rural parts of the country.
The target is mainly elementary school teachers to enhance their teaching practice in the classroom.
More than 3,600 elementary school teachers had benefitted between 2016 and 2018 through the Teach For Tomorrow (T4T) programme.
Southern Highlands elementary teacher training coordinator Mary Alkend said teachers in remote areas often missed on such training because of the location of their schools.
“We struggle so much to reach out to our teachers and schools. It is very hard to travel the long distances in the remote provinces. I know teachers are crying out for more support.
“But it’s hard to deliver it to them.’’
The programme is being tried out in Morobe, Oro, Milne Bay and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. It is an in-service programme designed jointly with elementary school teacher trainers and provincial education authorities. The training focuses on inclusive education, child protection, use of natural resources to educate others and pedagogy which is the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.