Province integrates culture into curriculum

ENGA is the first province in PNG to integrate culture into its education curriculum, says a senior official.
Commerce, cultures and tourism director and Enga Cultural Show and Provincial Tourism Bureau chairlady Margaret Potane said one way of strengthening culture and educating the future generation is by having it taught in schools.
“We are the only province in the country to develop cultural education textbooks for teachers and handbooks for students with the approval from the national education board,” she said.
Potane said the Enga Teachers’ College, situated in the provincial capital Wabag, had also integrated culture into its teacher training programme so that all teachers who graduate from the college were able to teach culture as a subject in schools.
“Apart from that, our museum, the Take Anda Museum, also has educational programmes for students, teachers and visitors who wish to learn about Enga and its culture,” she said.
The museum, which cost K6 million to construct, is like an encyclopedia where tourists and visitors can go to and learn more about cultures and traditions of each of the districts of Enga without having to visiting them all.
Potane said over the years, Grand Chief Sir Peter Ipatas and the provincial government had done a tremendous job in improving education standards to where it was today.
“I commend our governor ( Sir Peter) as under his leadership, a lot has been achieved in education and now he has also supported tourism projects in the province,” she said.
Without this support, Potane said they would not have come this far in terms of developing their home province.