I am Jelina Tangilikun- I come from East New Britain and Manus parentage but have been living and teaching in the Eastern Highlands Province for the last five years.
I studied at the University of Goroka (UOG) and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Special Inclusive Education, because I am willing to help people with disability in the country. At UOG, it took me two years to complete the degree program.
One of my biggest challenge I encountered while at UOG is being a mother and a student at the same time. For my case, I left my kids with my parents continued on with my studies. One hiccup was also the financial struggle to keep me going and taking care of my family.
Being a student is tough, there are many sleepless nights, some assignments and tasks are given late, but as a student I had to be smart to do everything on time.
It’s difficult in a situation where you become a mother and a student at the same time. You have to think of your studies and family, but by the Grace of our good Lord, I managed to overcome this.
The challenge now for me is to go out and be a role model to the students who have disabilities, especially for those who have hearing impairment.
In a classroom situation, learning difficulties is the main problem inside the classroom that students face in doing mathematics, language. With the various techniques learnt at UOG on how to teach, this can be used to help students.