Remote school gets teacher’s house, classroom

TUNGOL Primary School, on the remote Nissan Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) now has a new double classroom and a teacher’s house from support given by the Australian government.
The classroom will be used by grade eight students who will be preparing for their exams and the house will cater for the school’s head teacher Aloysius Toniou.
Toniou, whose wife Hedwig also teaches at the school, said the new facilities will help to attract and retain both students and teachers.
“With the new additions to the school, we are hopeful that there will be an increase in enrolments interest for teachers to teach here despite the K150 boat ride,” he said.
“A lot of more students will also now be able to continue onto grade nine.
“We are also excited and looking forward to moving into our new home.
“The move will improve our living standards and empower us to educate our children on Nissan.”
Toniou and his wife have been teaching at Tungol since 2017 and currently live in a rundown two-bedroom house powered by a generator.
They were recently selected by the school board to move into the new fully-furnished teacher’s house, which includes solar power lighting and a rainwater storage tank.
Only accessible by sea, Nissan Island has a population of 7,500 people and is a four-hour boat ride from North Bougainville.
The school is one of seven primary schools on the small coral island catering for grades three to eight students before they continue to Nissan High School to complete grades nine and 10.