Students fundraising to sustain life in city for exhibition

SIALUM High School in Tewai-Siassi, Morobe, is currently raising funds to subsidize the cost of their stay in Lae.
The fundraising drive was the idea of the school’s principal Judy Keleino after more than 50 participants from the school had to stay back due to the postponement of the Morobe Secondary schools exhibition.
They were in Lae since last week. The Morobe education division had planned the event for June 22-23 but that had been delayed due to school fights among students and the event would be this weekend.
According to provincial education adviser Keith Jiram, the idea was to bring together students from different schools in Morobe for meaningful and positive exchanges to foster unity and a common purpose in education.
He said schools had experienced challenging times and that had affected students’ academic performances, their relationships and student-teacher relations.
Keleino said the students arrived early for the event but when the dates changed, they had no option but to stay around in Lae and participate or return to the school and not take part in the event.
“Since Sialum is far from Lae and it costs the school money to transport the students to Lae, we can’t go back.
“We are now staying in Lae until after taking part in the event then we can go back,” she said.
When asked about students missing out on classes, Keleino said she had spoken with their respective teachers to make up for extra classes for the students next term.
“To bring these students to these event is not that easy. There is a fight among villagers in Sialum and it is risky when passing through warring villages,” she said.
Keleino said they travelled into Lae on June 18 only to find that the event was postponed for a week and they had to reside with friends.
“That is why we are doing this fundraising drive through cultural dances and music. The money earned from these activities will go towards subsiding food and other needs for the students,” she said.
The funds raised would also go towards helping them meet their travel cost.
She appealed to ex-students of Sialum High School to help the students during their stay in Lae.