By Sharon Engnui
Paglum Adventist Secondary School, one of the leading academic institutions in the country located in Western Highlands Province, is facing critical infrastructural challenges that demand urgent attention.
Renowned for its outstanding academic performance and as the alma mater of PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape, the school urgently requires enhanced accommodation facilities to support the increasing influx of boarding students from not only Western Highlands Province but from all over PNG.
Almost half of the school’s accommodation facilities are deteriorating as we speak.
Despite being a leader in academic excellence, students’ rights to live and study in a conducive environment have been neglected for far too long.
According to Brandi Koldop, the Education Director for the Western Highlands Mission Adventist, many of the structures have been condemned by health and building inspectors.
“Early this year we brought the health and building inspectors to assess and give us reports as to weather the school is okay for operations, unfortunately the Health inspectors rated the school with red flag indicating that the dormitories and toilets facilities is not hygienic for students to live and study.
Koldop added that the building inspectors also condemned the building with indication that those facilities should have been long gone
The demand for enrollment at this school is steadily increasing each year, thanks to its outstanding performance.
Recently, EMTV Newsroom visited the school and learned that a semi-permanent building was constructed to accommodate Grade 9 students.
Restrooms have been converted into ablution blocks to serve the growing number of boarding students; however, many students still have to shower outside the dormitory areas to keep up with their schedules.
Both male and female dormitories are in a disheartening state of disrepair.
Toilet pits have been dug near the fences for their relief.
Half of the student population comes from SDA feeder schools across the country.
The school is renowned for educating some of the nation’s prominent figures, including the country’s Prime Minister, James Marape.Noting that Director Koldop called on stakeholders to step in and address these infrastructural challenges, he also urged the Prime Minister to recognize his alma mater.
“When he has the power, this is the school where Prime Minister James Marape have to develop it for the people of Western Highlands and the rest of Papua New Guinea, we have been struggling even the inspectors advised us to cease operations we just couldn’t” said Mr. Koldop
Despite these ongoing challenges facing the school, it has achieved remarkable success, ranking as the highest academic-performing secondary school in PNG. According to School Principal Mr. Freddy Pennington, Paglum was ranked 14th in 2020, 8th in 2021, 3rd in 2022, and finally 1st in 2023 by the Measurement Service Unit Division of the National Department of Education.
