School inspection crucial

THERE was no budget allocation from the Education Department to Morobe for inspection of school learning facilities, teachers and students for three years, Huon Gulf education manager Sam Geseng says.
That resulted in a high rate of teacher absenteeism and a decline in the students’ academic performance in rural schools, he said.
Geseng said there was no budget allocation to enable inspectors to visit schools in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
As a result, many teachers were absent from classrooms that encouraged students not to attend classes, he said.
Geseng responded to survey results that Morobe Technical High School principal Norman Apul produced within Zia, Yekora and Binadere communities in Morobe LLG area from Jan 5-25.
“When we started to receive funding again in 2018 and 2019, we’ve seen teachers back in classrooms teaching students and the results have improved” Geseng said.
He said school inspections were crucial because standard officers physically visited schools and identified actual needs in learning, teachers and facilities before making recommendations.
However, it was not an easy task to visit remote schools when there was no funding, he said.
Geseng said in Huon Gulf, local MP Ross Seymour and the district development authority were consistent in helping inspectors and teachers’ mobility, providing logistics support to and from schools.
He said this year, he had budgeted for ample fuel to enable two inspectors to conduct inspections.