Students in NCD urged to return to classes

The National National
NCD education authorities are urging all schools to resume classes this week to allow for the Grade 12s to prepare for their National Written Expression exam on Aug 15. Pictured are grade 10 students from Waigani Christian Academy sitting for their Written Expression exam earlier this year.

ALL schools in the National Capital District (NCD) should have resumed normal classes as of yesterday, says NCD acting education secretary Sam Lora.
He told The National that schools were only allowed to suspend classes last week as a result of recent election-related violence the previous week.
“All schools are expected to resume normally on Monday (yesterday) so all students are expected in school,” Lora said.
“We cannot continue to suspend classes and keep students at home as we are already into the third week of schooling for this term and Grade 12s need to prepare for their National Written Expression exams which are coming up.”
He said although the Education division in the city could not guarantee the safety of students during this time, he said parents could assess the situation and decide whether to keep them at home or send them to school.
“We have written to schools notifying all school heads that normal classes will commence this week and we have also communicated with them via WhatsApp reminding them students should be encouraged to attend classes as things have returned to normal.”
Lora said he had asked head teachers to make a list of all the teachers who had not reported to work this week and submit to his office.
He said teachers who failed to resume this week would be dealt with by the education division.
Meanwhile, some schools confirmed with The National that they had resumed normal classes yesterday.
De La Salle Secondary School Principal and chairman of NCD schools principals’ Br Antony Samy Pancras said normal classes had resumed and would remain that way from Monday onward.