By Rayon Lakingu – EMTV News, Port Moresby
The Government of Australia and Papua New Guinea will now be working together to deliver the ‘PNG-Australia Partnership Secondary Schools’ initiative. This new initiative will bring together teachers, students and leaders from the two countries in a range of learning activities, including collaborative projects and mentoring. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Marise Payne, and PNG Education Minister, Joseph Yopyyopy, officially launched the program today in Port Moresby.
The new school to school partnership was sealed by a handshake between the two ministers, and a memorandum of understanding signed by principals of two schools chosen to partner in this initiative.
According to PNG Education Minister, Joseph Yopyyopy, the country has faced a lot of challenges in the education sector, highlighting school infrastructure as one of the major challenges. He said such an initiative is timely as it will help address the challenges the department is facing.
In this Initiative, twelve secondary schools in Papua New Guinea have been chosen to partner with twelve secondary schools in Australia, directly reaching over 2 thousand four hundred students in years 9 and 11.
The initiative’s key objective is to improve education capabilities in areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and English language.
According to the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, the initiative is part of Australia’s efforts to connect to the Pacific region, stating that it is to help young people secure a better future.
The PNG-Australia Partnership Secondary School initiative will be implemented over the next two years by the PNG Education Department and the Australian High Commission in PNG.
