Special teacher, students

JUDITH Puee is a teacher who, perhaps better than most, understands the importance of supporting students with special needs.
She has four children and two of the younger ones – Bertha and Giana – were born with disabilities.
In 2005, Puee started her teaching career, determined to bring about change in Panguna, Central Bougainville.
She and her husband are now working at Metonai Elementary School in Panguna.
Puee teaches a composite prep and grade one class and her husband is a teaching assistant.
“Many students I’ve taught have already graduated from university,” she said, beaming with pride.
“Two have become high school teachers and a few are now primary school teachers.”
In addition to running Metonai Elementary, Puee is dedicated to her daughters with special needs, nine-year-old Bertha and three-year-old Giana.
Such is her commitment to her students and daughters that she would take Bertha and Giana with her to school in a wheelbarrow when there was no one available to look after them.
In 2019, Puee and her husband attended professional development workshops to improve their teaching skills as part of the Rapidly Increasing Standards of Education (Rise) programme.
Rise is supported by the Papua New Guinea-Australia partnership and provides training on literacy, numeracy and cross-cutting themes, including gender equality and inclusive education.
The programme is delivered by Save the Children in collaboration with the Autonomous Bougainville Government, church education agencies, Callan Services National Unit and the Summer Institute of Linguistics PNG.
Puee said the programme equipped them with the necessary skills to improve children’s learning, including tools and strategies to support students with special needs.
“Rise helped me improve how I taught my students to read,” she said.
“It provided me with guides to simplify my teaching and help my students.”
Last year, Puee attended Rise training and contributed many valuable insights on the challenges faced by children with disabilities.
“I share the lessons I plan for my students with Bertha and Giana – reading is Bertha’s favourite subject,” she said.
“My kids are learning at the same level as my students in the class and Bertha can read three-letter words.”
The Rise project also supported the delivery of wheelchairs for Bertha and Giana to improve their independence, mobility in the community and access to education.