Remote schools should be given priority: School chairman

SCHOOLS in the remotest parts of Morobe must be given priority in 2019, a school administrator says.
Chairman of Gunubosing Elementary School, Osang Koinda claimed that the school, though registered with the Department of Education, had not received any tuition fee free funding since its establishment in 2013.
The school is located in Yoneng village of Ward 11, Hube local-level government in Finschhafen.
It serves the remote villages of Soseku, Dotong, Zongo and Zaninau.
Koinda said the school board members had wanted to shut it down last year but they thought about the children enrolled in the school.
“There are no permanent infrastructure.
“All classrooms are made of bush materials.
“The students sit on the ground,” he said.
“We provide A4 papers for the students to write on.
“When there is no money to buy papers, the students only listen to what the teachers teach.”
“With more than 20 students in each of the grades, the K150 project fee is not enough to cater for teaching and learning materials.
“Money is spent on renovating classrooms during the rainy season and for transportation. It costs around K300 per person to travel to get supplies.”
Some parents have to wait for the coffee season to earn money and pay for project fees.
“We let parents pay in installments. And this has been a challenge since 2013.
“We haven’t got any visits from the district school inspectors which has made things even harder for us,” Koinda said.
He said the children were keen to learn and needed support from the government.
“Most of the children from villages near Yoneng, climbed mountains and cross footbridges to get to school,” he said.
“In rainy days students stay back in school with their teachers or relatives nearby to wait for floods to subside so they could go home.
“There are other elementary schools at Kobau, Saseu and Yunzaing villages but they are too far for them.”
Koinda was pleased that 15 students will be doing Grade three this year at Gubabang primary school, Saseu village.