Teachers in remote school learn to use device to assist students

TEACHERS in West Sepik’s remote Telefomin were recently trained on how to use the remote area community hotspot for education (Rachel) Plus device.
The training was conducted by the Education Department’s information and communications technology (ICT) team with support from Save the Children’s education in emergency response recovery plan (EERRP) project.
According to Save the Children, 15 participants from Telefomin Primary School consisting of seven females and four male teachers as well as two teachers from Telefomin Technical Vocational Education Training Centre and the District Office staff attended the training.
Rachel Plus is a portable device containing world class educational materials that can be accessed by students and teachers, such as encyclopedias, video lectures, textbooks, educational games, medical resources, coding programmes, previous exam papers and many more.
The device will help 340 students improve and continue their learning during school disruptions.
Telefomin Primary School teacher Helen Wanori said: “Rachel is an interesting and amazing device and suits a very remote place like Telefomin.
“District child protection officer Moreng Laori was impressed with the device saying that it is amazing and does not need flex card for data.
“We may be disadvantaged geographically but with our Rachel device, we can travel the world within an hour,” he said.
The participants asked if other schools in remote parts of Telefomin could be given the Rachel device.
The project targets 80 schools in Telefomin; 52 are elementary, 26 primary and two secondary schools.
It is supported by global partnership for education (GPE) and the Australian Government under the PNG-Aust Partnership.
It is implemented by Unicef in collaboration with Save the Children and the Education Department.