WHP school faces closure

By ELIAS LARI
A SCHOOL in Western Highlands faces closure in the second term because it is broke.
And the management of the Mun Elementary School in Dei district has blamed Bank South Pacific for not releasing funds allocated under the government’s free education policy.
School chairman Pastor John Kona said they had approached BSP several times to release the funds.
He said they made requests and even confronted the staff at the bank but nothing was done.
Kona said if schools were closed in the second term, BSP would be held responsible.
A staff at the BSP branch in Mt Hagen told The National last week that they were not responsible for the delay in payment.
She said all queries should be referred to the head office. No comments could be obtained from the BSP head office.
Head teacher Anthon Tiki said the school had been borrowing money to keep it opened during the first term.
He said they had been told by the government not to charge parents any more fees. So they did not have any choice but to borrow money to fund their operation.
Tiki said they had been advised several times by BSP staff to forward their bank account details to them so that the payment could be made to the school account.
He said if the school was closed, parents, students, board members and the teachers would stage a peaceful protest in front of the BSP branch in Mt Hagen.
Tiki said because they had to borrow money, they were obliged to pay interest.
He said most schools in the highlands who had accounts with other banks were also affected.
Tiki said they needed to pay casual staff, buy cartridges, fuel and other expenses to run the school.
Kona said Mun elementary has more than 400 students.
The second term starts today.
The Penda Primary School in Dei district is also facing a similar problem. It operates its  account with ANZ, Mt Hagen branch.