By Delly Waigeno – EM TV News, Port Moresby
The education sector in Manus Province is under pressure to produce quality home-grown students who can continue to other tertiary institutions on the PNG mainland.
This comes as Director for Port Moresby Institute of Matriculation Studies, Norman Sike, announced that the number of elite Manusians working outside the province is rapidly declining.
Sike said government assistance alone is not enough to address the lack of quality education.
The education of its human resource is important for the small island province.
The education sector in Manus is therefore under pressure to deliver and produce quality home-grown students that can be competitive and continue to other tertiary institutions.
Sike, who spoke during the ECOM Secondary School Graduation, emphasised that the education sector must be protected and supported.
Concerns have been raised that the number of students entering higher learning institution has dropped in the last 15 years.
To address this, Sike believes government assistance alone is not enough. He took it upon himself to deliver desktop computers to the two mission run secondary schools: Ecom just outside of Lorengau town and Papitalia Secondary on the Los Negros near the Asylum Seekers Camp in Lombrum.
40 desks each was given to two primary schools Kari community school in Central Manus and Lawes primary school on the south coast.
The schools whereas having some of the modern double classroom in rural area the desk where student sit to learn is appalling, The learning environment is as important to ensure students are comfortable in classrooms
Ecom Secondary School Board Chairman, Chawi Konabe, thanked Sike for his foresight and contribution to education in Manus.
With very qualified teachers and support from people like Sike, the future of the students and the province now looks promising putting something back to their communities in addressing the problem.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=daPpkpQmS2c%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
