Students in teachers’ college to be terminated

National

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
AT least 40 students from teachers’ colleges are to be terminated as they have been identified to have entered colleges with certificates that were different to originals, an official revealed.
The certificates were scanned copies.
First Assistant Secretary of Teacher Education and Standard Annemarie Kona, speaking during the third-quarter meeting of teacher college principals in Port Moresby this week, said those first-year students had grades changed  on their certificates and were selected for this year’s intake.
She told the principals the list of those students would be presented to them by the human resource development programme (HRDP) staff tomorrow – the last day of the weeklong meeting.
She said those students were required to upgrade their marks and reapply to become teachers.
Kona said non-school leavers next year would be required to sit an entry test they were shortlisted.
The requirement is one of the recommendations from the meeting.
Principals from 13 teacher colleges are attending the conference to try to improve standard of training at the colleges.
Teacher education division acting assistant secretary Allan Jim said: “The theme of the conference is reviving the teacher education course together and inclusively”.
Discussions of the conference include:

  • Second-quarter meeting resolutions;
  • institutionalisation of elementary teacher training;
  • national standards teacher and qualification framework;
  • teaching Service Commission determination of teaching practice allowances;
  • teachers’ college non-school leavers vetting and selection; and,
  • College fees structure.