Pearson: All school-aged kids in classroom by 2050

EVERY school-age child should be in the classroom by 2050, Teaching Service Commission chairman Michael Pearson said last Friday.
He said this would only happen if the education system was upgraded by 5% from here on.
Pearson was speaking during the closing of the combined New Guinea Islands-Momase ratings conference last Friday,.
He said that if PNG did not move now, it would not have the teachers, schools, teachers’ houses and classrooms to provide education for the expected five-seven million children in 2050.
“We talk so much of the Vision 2050, but this is supposed to have begun this year as education requires a lot and the country needs more teachers.
“Currently, we should have doubled the number of teacher trainees in teachers colleges than what we have at the moment.”
Pearson said there were 1.5 million children in school but at the same time there were a quarter of a million not in school and if the education system was increased by 3% per annum, the number out of school would continue to grow and that number would have serious consequences for PNG.
He said there was a need for more permanent schools and concrete buildings.
“Stop being a colonial, as colonials are built only to be around for a short time. PNG is a new nation, the second biggest in the South Pacific. Let’s start building permanent, solid construction, which requires parental and community support.”