Milne Bay has graduated 120 fully-fledged elementary teachers.
They graduated from Kokoda Track Foundation’s Teach for Tomorrow training program last week, funded by partners at the Flight Centre Foundation, Milne Bay Provincial Education and Member for Esa’ala, Steven Davis.
The newly trained teachers have been given the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to deliver a high quality education to elementary aged children in remote schools across the maritime province. They will also have the opportunity to access Government payroll positions for the first time ever, after volunteering in their schools for many years.
“We are so proud of all our teacher graduates from Milne Bay Province,” said KTF CEO, Dr Genevieve Nelson. “They have worked tirelessly for the past 6 weeks and have shown great enthusiasm and dedication to the teaching profession. They are going to make extraordinary teachers.”
The program was delivered in partnership with the PNG Education Institute (PNGEI), where the training was undertaken over the past 6 weeks in remote Esa’ala district.
In addition to Milne Bay, KTF, PNGEI and the Morobe Provincial Department of Education also kicked off the training of hundreds of elementary teachers from across Morobe Province the previous week.
“Over 550 partially-trained teachers travelled to Lae for the training and will spend 6 weeks with our trainers completing their certificate of elementary teaching,” said KTF.
“Thanks to generous funding from Newcrest Mining Limited and the Morobe Provincial Department of Education, these trainees will complete the training required to become fully certified and as a result, they will be eligible for salaried positions and full Government payroll.
“Some of these trainees have been waiting to complete their training for over a decade.”
Teach for Tomorrow is an ongoing partnership initiative of KTF, NDOE, PNGEI and various Provincial Education Authorities who are working together to roll out the training of thousands of partially-trained Elementary Teachers across PNG. To date, the training has been delivered to over 700 teachers across Oro, Gulf and Milne Bay provinces and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
In addition to delivering the Teach for Tomorrow training, KTF is committed to returning to all provinces in which it trains teachers to provide ongoing professional development and mentoring courses that facilitate continual upskilling and development of teachers in remote areas across PNG.
The graduation ceremony for the Morobe teachers will be held at the training venue on 26 May, 2017.