More than 800 teachers in West New Britain Province are equipped and now able to support students to improve their reading and writing after receiving professional development training.
To support more effective teaching, the Pikinini Kisim Save (PKS) project has provided teachers at 353 West New Britain schools with professional development, teaching and learning materials, and other classroom resources.
The PKS project is supported through the Papua New Guinea - Australia Partnership and delivered by CARE international and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
Among those trained was Philomina Morris, head teacher at Kapore Elementary in Talasea District, who said there have been changes in student learning since the trainings were delivered.
“Our preparatory classes can read and identify words through sounding. Teachers use different teaching strategies to teach their students reading and writing, and students are now more confident to sound out and blend words to form sentences.
“This is the result of teachers using their scripted lessons and applying literacy teaching strategies,” Ms Morris said.
She said that the PKS project addresses gaps in education by strengthening skills of teachers and supporting community leaders, education stakeholders and service providers to promote quality early grade education.
It includes professional development for teachers, teaching and learning resources for schools, school leadership training and adult literacy programs.
“The training made a big impact on both the teachers and to the students,” Ms Morris continued.
“We have improved our ways of setting up our classrooms for teaching and learning and using our Standards Based Curriculum daily lessons and programs.”
Since 2019, more than 5200 teachers have received training through the PKS project, benefitting more than 82,000 children across Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Chimbu and West New Britain provinces.