Teachers’ colleges

WHILE the Education Department continues to struggle to improve the failing quality education in the country, others are lurking.
These “others” take advantrage of the department’s weaknesses by establishing many primary school teachers’ colleges in the country, as reported in the two dailies in recent weeks.
Thousands of school leavers are dropping out from the formal education system under the Government’s tuition fee-free policy.
Business people and church organisations with vested political interests are now focusing on making money from the ever-increasing number of desperate school leavers.
This is by way of establishing sub-standard teachers’ colleges around the country.
It seems that Papua New Guinea has no stable education policies and laws governing the efficiency of the country’s education system.
The National Education Board, the very entity tasked to protect the integrity eduction policies and standard operational procedures, is seen to breach legal appointment processes.
For instance, the requirement to teach at a teachers’ college is a post-graduate degree in education or a minimum of bachelor’s degree in education.
Gone are the days of the colonial era when diploma graduates were recruited to train grades 5 and 6 dropouts as teachers.
Does this mean that PNG still lacks qualified people to run the low-standard education system after 40 years?

Ken Nandawa
Yaporolo Weki