Kopkop College

“Having seen the college embrace culture through visual context in the form of legends and traditional food preparations, I think it’s very important that as the new generation comes into existence we must help them to understand what has taken place in the past in order to move forward into the future,” she told the parents and the students.

The school marked the independence with the show casing of legendary videos which they had created alongside their teachers and the support of parents.

Brisbane Broncos Ambassador and retired player, Darius Boyd when launching the program via zoom from Brisbane, said, “Saving a little bit of money can go a long way if you want to buy things in the future such as stationary, books, even a computer.”

He gave encouragement to the grades four and ten students to save telling them to set goals for themselves and to start saving.

“The Brisbane Broncos would like to thank you for your participation  and hope you will enjoy the BSP Financial Literacy program in Term two and three,” said Boyd.

Eldest daughter, Dawn Temo in year 10 took out the first placing in all her eight subjects, while Daniella took out first in four of her subjects and second and third placing in two other subjects.

Veronica Nil Tainde works as a General Practitioner at the NCD Provincial health Authority.

She said trying to juggle work and motherhood is challenging for a medical person but she is grateful to be surrounded by a great family who helped raise the girls.

Kopkop College, a permitted private school, has proven academic records, which annually sees most of its Grade 12 students successfully entering their choice of institution. The students will be among some 30,000 others vying for spaces at tertiary level next year.

The school’s 11^th graduation was held under strict COVID protocol and included parents, grade 12 teachers, supporting staff, the school board chair and the keynote speaker Cardiologist, Professor Sir Isi Kevau.

Deputy Principal, Rogana Pawai said Kopkop College is among 57 other registered private schools in NCD, gives them the opportunity to oversee the National Examination similarly to any other government-run schools in PNG.

The exam papers were handed by the Measurement Services Division to all school principals in NCD last week, while an external invigilator is now present at the school to monitor the exam.

The event saw six hundred plus students of Kopkop College from early childhood to primary and secondary commemorated the country’s 46^th independence by performing various traditional dancing, drama, sing sings, and reenactment of the arrival of the first missionaries into PNG.

Kopkop College Director Internal Quality Assurance, Mary Udu said Kopkop College is a multicultural institution that promotes culture and diversity.

The plays were scripted and directed by the students on topics such as homosexuality and suicide, police brutality and gambling which were put together over six weeks and took place among several high schools in NCD.

Andrew Kuliniasi, who started off as a script-writer and producer at the age of 15, and is now the drama director at the Moresby Arts Theatre, described the student’s written scripts and acting skills as the most “detailed and touching.”

Adriana Mulavo, a year nine student attending Kopkop College said dramatizing these sensitive topics gave her and her class the chance to talk about the issues that they see happening around them.

“These topics dramatized on stage (police brutality, suicide, gambling) needs to be talked about and really needs changing…Telling these stories, in a way helped us to express ourselves. Because most of the time we are not allowed to do that in an academic setting.”

Kopkop College grade 12 students attended the 2021 NCD Secondary School Expo that provided informational booths on career options.

Deputy Principal Rogena Pawai for Kopkop College said the career expo was an important avenue for students to explore the different tertiary institutions to choose from when filling in school leaver forms. This is helpful for those students found to be undecided at times.

There were 27 stalls set up from private and government institutions, including the country’s four major universities and the police department.

The 2021 National Book Week theme “Lock-down, Stay Safe and Read Books” panned out well at Kopkop with the college taking part in an array of activities that observed the true spirit of the book week. This included a visit to the National Library with other schools in NCD.

In honour of the book week, Kopkop College students participated in poster competitions, watching educational films, dramatic reading sessions and writing of poetry, roleplays and book reviews. The week ended with a costume parade of characters from their favorite books.