Boosting Education Standards Together in PNG is a programme aimed at supporting female students train as high school and secondary school teachers specializing in teaching mathematics and Science.
The program is spearheaded by the Department of Education in partnership with the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, managed by Save the Children PNG through funding by Global Partnerships for Education and partners including BSP Group, Newcrest Mine and JICA.
The donors and implementers of the BEST of PNG programme arrived in Kokopo on Thursday 1st June and received by a small number of students’ future beneficiaries of the programme at the Tokua airport.
The main programme is boosting female students’ teacher education at the Teachers College, however the visit started at the lowest level of education at a Grade 1 class of Baliora Primary school.
The visiting team of donors from Global Partnerships for Education and Save the Children interacted with the children. They later had a community consultation with teachers and parents to learn more about how the transition to 1-6-6 standard of education is faring.
After a brief stopover at an elementary school the team moved on to the Kokopo Technical Secondary School were they had dialogue with the Principal, deputies and the teacher body regarding the education reform.
School Inspectors in the province joined the conversation on Day 2 of the visit.
Principal of Kokopo Technical Secondary, Doreen Ezekiel, suggested to the visitors if a component of the exercise books can been dropped and converted to other more relevant educational tools.
Being a Technical Secondary school, TVET curriculum is run as well, but according to the TVET teachers, they do not have the infrastructure to accommodate these trainings. Lack of resources is a main problem expressed in almost all the schools and colleges visited.
The team then proceeded to the DWU Kabaleo Teachers College Campus where the JICA technical personnel did a presentation of the development of Modules for science and mathematics for Teachers’ Colleges, aimed at empowering female students to pursue Degrees in teaching Science and Mathematics for high schools and secondary schools.