Schools reeling from quake

By YVONNE KAMBIBEL
THOUSANDS of kina would be needed to repair and rebuild all infrastructure damaged by the recent earthquake at two national schools of excellence (NSOE) in the country.
The 7.6 magnitude earthquake which struck 67km east of Kainantu in Eastern Highlands on Sept 10, 2022 has had a devastating impact on most of the vital infrastructure in both Wawin in Morobe and Aiyura in Eastern Highlands.
Much of the infrastructure that were damaged had cost both school administrations, and the education department and other partners thousands of kina to build, purchase and maintain.
Classroom buildings, desks, computers, science and computer laboratories, including teachers houses in both institutions were all partially or completely damaged.
For almost a month since the quake, both school administrations had to make other internal arrangements to accommodate the students to ensure teaching and learning still continue.
Education Minister Jimmy Uguro after learning that both schools where affected beyond an extent where only a small maintenance work could fix, decided to visit the institutions.
He wanted to see for he how both schools have been coping after the disaster had destroyed half of their learning and teaching infrastructure.
On Oct 4, 2022, the minister who is also Usino-Bundi MP Jimmy Uguro was accompanied by Department Secretary Dr Uke Kombra on a short but significant visit first to Wawin and later to Aiyura.
All damages done by the earthquake were very much similar in both institutions.
Minister Uguro said “all elementary schools up to the NSOEs come under the Education Department and his ministry and so the two bodies are responsible to ensure that students at this level of education receive quality education.”
“Natural disasters happens at their own time and when damages are done, there is no one to blame for them when Mother Nature has taken its own course,” he said.
“The secretary and I are here to inspect the damages and see how best we can be able to help both Wawin and Aiyura.”
He assured students that the government will do its part on ensuring that the damages are fixed and appealed to them to focus on their studies and the upcoming exams.
Education secretary Dr Uke Kombra said proper assessments must be done by structural engineers and a report must be made to identify the total cost of damages in both schools so that further arrangements and decisions can be made to rebuild by 2023.
“There are about 13,000 schools in the country’s education system,” he said.
“Out of that figure, five are the national schools of excellence, previously called national high schools.”
Kombra said these five were the cream meaning top schools in the lower education system.
“The country in the near future years should be able to export products to the world instead of just being an importer,” he said adding that with the latest concepts like (Stem) Science, Technology, Engineering and mathematics being introduced at NSOEs, there is hope that these students would be the next generation of innovators with brilliant and creative innovations that would put PNG on the world map.
He commended both institutions for the successful introduction of the concept.
Morobe governor Luther Wenger who accompanied the minister, secretary and Director-Secondary Education and Management Coordination and General Services, Benny Rayappan and the delegation only to Wawin pledged his support to the school.
“I thank the minister and secretary for this visit to Wawin,” he said. Governor Wenge pledged his support to help with the rebuilding of the infrastructure.
Wawin NSOE principal Pal Pu thanked both Uguro, Kombra and Wenge and their team for making the time to visit the school to inspect the damages and see for themselves how the school had been functioning with most of its learning and teaching infrastructure were destroyed by the natural disaster.
“It is an honor to have both the minister and secretary here at the school, he said.
“It is not an everyday thing where we get such visits from the highest decision makers in the Education sector to come to our school and we are humbled by this visit.”
He said much of the situational report have been submitted to the National Disaster Centre (NDC) and the Morobe Government.
Pu on behalf of his school appealed to the leaders to ensure that appropriate help is given to repair and rebuild the infrastructure so that there is consistency with the quality teaching and learning at the school.
At Aiyura, Principal Karl Puluma said the total cost of re-building would be around K1.3 m.
“The school is 47 years old,” he said.
“Much of the infrastructure are as old as the country but I thank the secretary and the Government for ensuring that we receive our school subsidies to support our operations over the years.” Puluma and his administration were asked by minister Uguro and Secretary Dr Kombra for a team of expert to conduct feasibility studies on the damages and submit a report back to them.
The minister was impressed by the warm welcome given by the school, especially the students.
“Despite the challenges, you still manage to smile like nothing is wrong at your school,” he told them.
He challenged students to focus on their futures and strive for success reminding them also that the country needs more doctors, nurses, pilots, engineers etc.
“We will submit a report to government but we will also try to help at our level,” he said.