Pioneer school prepares for rehabilitation

A PIONEER school in East New Britain will see some long-overdue infrastructure rehabilitation and expansion after years of neglect.
The provincial assembly meeting this week passed and endorsed the rehabilitation of Vunamami Farmers’ Training Centre (VFTC) to now be treated as an impact project by the provincial government.
Funding for this project will be between K15 million and K20 million.
The chairman of the education committee, Isaac Ilom said the condition of its infrastructure was so appalling that the environment was not conducive to enhancing quality competency-based training.
He said due to the appalling training and living conditions for both students and staff, the quality of training offered at the school might be questionable.
Ilom said VFTC had made significant contribution to the agricultural-based economy of ENB and was one of the oldest technical and vocational training institutions in the country.
However, due to lack of funding for its infrastructure rehabilitation, the school has been operating with deteriorating infrastructure for many years.
After the recent intervention by the national government through the governor, an initial funding commitment of K3 million to upgrade the school was made by Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Puka Temu.
A cheque was presented to the school by Sir Puka but the school had yet to receive the funds.
Ilom said additional funding of K15 million might be forthcoming from the national government.
The provincial assembly also approved that funds from the national government be channeled through the established provincial government accounting system.
The money would then be placed in a trust account and drawn specifically for the VFTC rehabilitation with the Gazelle Restoration Authority to manage all stages of the project from documentation to completion.