Secondary school enrolling all grades next year

HOLY Spirit Secondary School in Bogia, Madang, is ready to enrol all grades – nine to 12 – next year following the suspension of classes last year due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19), acting principal Simon Pais says.
Pais said they had suspended their grade nines and 11s last year when the first wave of the Covid-19 hit due to difficulties adhering to social distancing measures.
“Social distancing is for people to walk around and not inclusive of students that sleep in dorms and it’s not possible for students in the classroom,” he said.
“We had only the grade 10s and 12s last year, and this year, they had only the grade nines and 11s to avoid overcrowding in dormitories and classrooms.”
Pais said the school had been shut down by the provincial health authority in 2019 due to deteriorating infrastructure.
However, the school was given K1 million by the district development authority to carry out maintenance and the funds were used to build two new double classrooms for the upper secondary, maintain staff houses and dormitories.
He said that the school had enough capacity at the moment to accommodate more students next year.
Pais said the number of teachers at the school were able to teach all the grades and they would recruit more for the coming school year.