The Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) has expanded its Teach for Tomorrow program to 400 trainee teachers from across New Ireland Province.
Generously funded by Newcrest Mining, the James Family Foundation and New Ireland Provincial Department of Education, the training program enables partially-trained elementary teachers to complete their Certificates of Elementary Teaching and become certified as fully-fledged elementary teachers.
Over the next 6 weeks, the trainee teachers will participate in lectures, practicum, workshops and assessments that will give them the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to deliver education of the highest quality to elementary-aged children in remote schools across the maritime province.
Once certified, the graduate teachers will have the opportunity to access Government payroll positions for the first time ever, after volunteering in their schools for many years.
“We are so delighted to be taking Teach for Tomorrow to New Ireland Province and again working in partnership with the PNG Education Institute and the New Ireland Provincial Department of Education,” said KTF CEO, Dr Genevieve Nelson.
“The 400 trainee teachers have waited a long time for this training and have worked tirelessly as volunteers in their village schools.”
New Ireland is the seventh province that KTF, an NGO that has been working in PNG for over a decade, has taken the training program to. Over the past 12 months, KTF and its partners have trained 330 teachers in Oro Province, 37 in Gulf, 120 in Milne Bay, 540 in Morobe and 168 across the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. KTF is also currently delivering the training to 64 partially trained teachers in Manus Province.
Newcrest’s PNG Country Manager, Peter Aitsi, said: “We are excited to extend our development support to KTF’s next program across New Ireland, together with our other provincial education partners. This program will strengthen these teachers’ skills for the benefit of more than 10,000 PNG children.
“We’re pleased that 38 teachers from Lihir are taking part in the training and at graduation will be recognised as certified elementary teachers by the PNG Department of Education.”
The graduation ceremony for the New Ireland teachers will be held at the training venue on 6 October, 2017.
