Standard and quality of teachers just as crucial

Parentss, tea­chers and politicians have been quick to blame the go­vernment for not provi­ding funds to upgrade  the education system.
The O’Neill government used free education as its policy and has injected a substantial amount of money into this sector.
Would such massive funds improve the decli­ning standard of education?
Would changing policies such as abolishing the outcome-based education to objective-based make it better?
When will we stop criticising the government for not doing enough and who is the “government” anyway?
One of the variables that can be included into the whole equation is the lack
of creativity from teachers.
Once our teachers are well-groomed with content knowledge and aware of their ethical responsibi­lities, they would be able
to produce high quality output, which would be reflected in students’ performance.
Quality can be measured by the students’ ability to retain knowledge and ap­ply them in their quest to excel in their studies, work and other endeavours.
When knowledge re­ten­tion is low, parents have every right to ask why and teachers must provide good reasons.
Are our teacher training institutions doing enough and are graduates adequately qualified ?
I enrolled for secondary teaching in-service quality upgrading courses at Di­vine Word University and
I have no doubt that it has seriously considered the human resource of PNG paramount in the redesign and dissemination of its
in-service and general tea­cher training courses.When teachers have the content knowledge and
are passionate about their chosen career, we can ex­pect better outcomes.
This, of course, has to be taken into consideration along with other pressing issues such as salary increment, accommodation, leave entitlements, etc.
I am optimistic that Mi­chael Malabag will address the teachers’ outstanding claims, but knowing who he is, I am reluctant to put
all my eggs in that basket.

Tisa-man
Via email