Thirty-three female students will receive Female and Science Teacher Education scholarships from the Boosting Education Standards Together (BEST) PNG project.
Thirty-one are from the St. Peter Channel Catholic College in Kokopo, East New Britain, while two are from the Pacific Adventist University (PAU. Many of these students who couldn’t afford the school fees, expressed gratitude when told they were successful in their application for the scholarship.
Upon learning about her success, scholarship recipient Margret Penington, burst into excitement and cried. She said her mother is a single parent and being selected for the scholarship, means her mother doesn’t have to worry about her school fees.
“I cried when I heard I was selected for the scholarship and my mother was the first person I called to tell. I’m privileged and this is a relief for her too,” she said.
Margret is amongst nine other female students from New Ireland Province sponsored by Newcrest Mining Ltd. Twenty-three of the other students are covered by the Global Partnership for Education.
The scholarship covers tuition fees, school facility fees, textbooks, boarding and annual home travel tickets. It will cover the full degree for four years from 2021-2024 on the criteria that the students meet the requirement for each semester.
The goal of this component of the project is to expand the number of female specialist teachers in Maths and Science.
The BEST PNG project is implemented by the National Department of Education (NDoE).
Save the Children’s Country Director Fiu Williame-Igara in congratulating the 33 scholarship recipients, encouraged them to be committed and to take their studies seriously.
“We believe that increasing the number of female Maths and Science teachers will have a positive long-term impact on learning outcomes and retention of female students, and there will be more role models showing young girls what is possible to achieve,” said Williame-Igara.
This initiative is part of Save the Children’s continued commitment to support the NDoE to improve teaching and learning outcomes and access to quality and inclusive education in the country.
The BEST PNG project aims to improve lower primary learning outcomes in Maths and Science in low performing provinces through strengthened pre-service and in-service teacher education, expanded access to teacher training for female teachers and improved access to textbooks.
The BEST PNG project is being rolled out in Western, Gulf, Oro, Milne Bay, West New Britain and West Sepik provinces.
It’s a project being led by NDoE, DHERST, and Save the Children, with funding support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Newcrest Mining Limited.
Photo credit: Save the Children
