School for special kids

 By JAMES APA GUMUNO
THE Kundiawa General Hospital is offering special education to sick, deaf and mute children.
The school which has been in operation for four years attracts children from Bougainville, New Ireland, West New Britain, East New Britain, Morobe, Madang and the seven highlands provinces.
Hospital chief executive officer Mathew Kaluvia said during a tour of the school last Friday that it offers classes from Elementary to Grade 8.
Kaluvia said school children admitted at the hospital continued their education while being treated there.
“When we discharge them, they return to their respective schools and continue their education,” he said. He said teachers visited students who were confined to their beds and were unable to attend classes in the ward.
Kaluvia said the school has four teachers who graduated from the teachers college. The head teacher is Elizabeth Kaupa.
He said a deaf teacher has been recruited from Callan Service.  
He said the school had 45 students attending class, while 23 students who can’t walk, the teachers visited them in the ward. The number of students fluctuated depending on the number of sick children admitted at the hospital.
Kaluvia said deaf and mute children living around Kundiawa town and from other provinces were catered for.
He said the school had its own kitchen with its own cooks who provided lunch for the students.
The school is supported by the Rotary Club of Queensland in Australia.