The national general election this year has disrupted classes, resulting in a low academic performance.
Morobe’s Provincial Program Advisor for education, Keith Tangui, said students were psychologically put off with a good number of schools reporting a rise in absenteeism.
No school in Morobe made the top performing list for Grade 12s, while Busu Secondary School’s Grade 10s came second in the 2022 national examination.
“Many students were not coming to school, as reported by the principals,” Tangui outlined.
“And the primary schools were worse because people were using the primary school venues for election purposes and students were dragged in to sing songs and accompany the MP and intending candidates, and they didn’t worry about school.
“I hope we pick up again next year.”
Tangui also mentioned COVID-19 disturbances, including law and order issues.
On a bright note, he was pleased that schools in Morobe managed to collect school and project fees, despite promises by MPs.
“Sometimes, national government is saying free education so principals are threatened. And some of the MPs have gone ahead to say they’ll pay half the school fees but didn’t pay anything.
“Schools that didn’t collect anything, they suffered the most.
“Sometimes, if they paid, they only paid a quarter and three-quarters waiting. So we had law and order issues where many of our principals and head masters were bashed up by students.
“It is not that easy to run a big province so I’d like to appeal to the Members of Parliament to not to raise expectations for the parents. Let the parents pay the school fees because it is a shared responsibility.”