Under new management, the Salamaua Provincial High School in Morobe Province is slowly picking itself up and looking forward to a better future.
It was no secret that Salamaua Provincial High School was a problem school in Morobe’s Huon Gulf district.
In recent years, the school was plagued with cult activities, intoxicated students who freely damage school infrastructure and the burning down of two male dormitories in 2021.
Established in 1995 at Kela village, the school sits atop an in incline overlooking the pristine waters of the Morobean coastline.
The school itself, however, stood in total contrast to its surroundings, with neglected dormitories and classrooms that are falling apart, no running water nor electricity and hazardous living conditions for both teachers and students.
It has been six weeks now since new head teacher, Norman Apul, took over.
He highlighted that the provincial high school will need to be transformed if they are to become one of Morobe’s leading schools in academic excellence as well as reach secondary status by 2024.
“We have taken a radical step forward, making some radical changes in the school,” he stated. “Placing our teachers’ welfare as a priority and our students’, so that they all settle in and learn as much as they can.
“I encourage teamwork; all staff and students to be working in harmony, working together to achieve the aim of academic excellence.”
In terms of infrastructural development, Apul said the boys’ dormitory 1 has been fully renovated, and they have moved on to dormitory 2, while the other two dormitories that were burnt down will soon be replaced.
“We also maintained some teachers’ houses. And we’re also working on completing the other two incomplete teachers’ houses so that our teachers, who are not on campus, should join us next term.
“We also put lights in all the classrooms so that students can study.”
Under Apul’s leadership, the staffroom was renovated, cable TV installed to keep the teachers updated on current events and the construction of staff ablution facilities commenced.
However, the head teacher outlined that additional funding is needed to give the school a major facelift.
He estimated that around K3 million would be needed to construct and maintain the infrastructure, while K800,000 per year would ensure the institution’s day-to-day activities are effectively run.
“Unfortunately, we cannot do much because of the limited funding that we receive from the Government Tuition Fee Subsidy,” he outlined.
“The money that we received on the 7th of February this year was to settle all the outstanding debts of 2021, which we did and some debts are still outstanding, which we are continuing to settle with the help of the parents’ support fees.”
The school currently has 15 teachers, 500 Grade Nine students and 240 Grade 10 students.