Programme to upskill teachers

A NEW education project to start in July will upskill primary school teachers on the use of scientific equipment and improve their teaching techniques.
The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology (DHERST).
Ippei Shimizu, the assistant representative of Jica, said the first education project was the QUIS-ME textbooks that saw 200,000 textbooks printed last year.
“While working on the QUIS-ME textbooks, we found out that there was room for primary school teachers to improve their knowledge on the subject that they are teaching, especially Mathematics and Science,” Shimizu said.
Education official Pisah Thomas stressed the importance of the teacher education project.
“This is a training course for graduate teachers,” he said.
“Before they go into the classroom, this project will enable them to teach effectively from the textbooks.
“Mostly in PNG, primary classrooms, there is no hands-on activities taking place.
“The teacher becomes like the lecturer.”