Politics in education discouraged

WESTERN Highlands Governor Wai Rapa says there must not be any political interference in the education sector of the province.
Rapa said quality education would change the province and the country and there must be transparency in that sector.
He said selections and postings of teachers must be done on merit.
“Provincial Education Boards must select and post teachers based on their qualifications and be strict in maintaining fairness,” he said.
“This province needs to produce quality education which my government is strongly pushing for.”
Rapa said teachers were important and needed recognition.
He said his government had paid about K1.7 million for teachers leave fares this year.
“For many years, WHP teachers have not received their leave fares,” he said.
“But we recognised the importance of teachers and the role they play in the country and paid K1.3 million last year.”
Rapa said that education is one of his government’s key pillars and he would continue to support it.
He said the government had presented Toyota Dyna trucks to six schools in September.
“The other schools would be presented with vehicles to help with their administration runs,” Rapa said.
He also stressed that Paglum Secondary and Mt Hagen Secondary Schools were the top performing schools in the province because they had teachers who were committed to their jobs.
Rapa called on Hagen Park, Kitip, Togoba, Notre Dame and Kombolopa Secondary Schools to step up to meet standards.