Polye: Free education to cost K350 million

FREE education will cost the government K350 million, Minister for Finance and Treasury Don Polye says.
Polye attended the graduation of pioneer Grade 10s and opened the newly-built Transgogol High School in Madang last week.
He said the K350 million from the supplementary budget was already held in the education trust account, with more to be allocated from the annual budget.
He promised K900 million for subsidised tuition fees starting next year from elementary school through to Grade 10. Grades 11 and 12 and all tertiary education will have 75% subsidies paid.
“Education alone will be a waste if it is not quality education.” Our children need to be skilled and specialised.”
He also said that the outcomes-based education was a troublesome syllabus.
He said the government was looking more into upskilling vocational and technical schools.
“We have to drive more entrepreneurial skills. We have to build institutions that can skill them, such as vocational and technical schools. Unless we do that we will get nowhere, otherwise education becomes a political agenda,” he said.
The event coincided with the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bau to Mawan road, a K7m phase two project that will eventually link the Jimi to Madang road; the unveiling of a plaque to declare the school officially open and the handing over of heavy machinery and dump trucks to the district for road maintenance work in the Transgogol Local Level Government (LLG) area.
The impressive two double storey classrooms and other erected buildings with others still in construction phase, was funded by Open Member, Buka Malai for K3m.
Work on the Bau to Mawan road is continuing with widening and grading of the road already done. With the K7m funding, sealing should be completed by early next year.