By Vasinatta Yama – EM TV News, Mt Hagen
Teachers in Enga Province are happy with the re-introduction of the Standard Based Curriculum in schools in the country. They say Papua New Guinea will begin to see improvement in the education system and student learning.
The teachers are very grateful that they will be teaching the Standard Based Curriculum (SBC) syllables in their schools. SBC syllables are standard throughout the country, and all teachers are given the same lessons to teach; unlike Outcome Based Education, where teachers had to plan and prepare their own lessons to teach in classroom. Standard Based Education was used in PNG from colonial times, until early 2000.
Long-time teacher, now Enga Teachers College Principal, Michael Homingo, says during the SBC period, students were brilliant with their literacy and numeracy skills.
However, Homingo says after the introduction of OBE curriculum, students’ numeracy and literacy skills began to drop. Students at Elementary were taught in Pidgin or their vernaculars and they find it difficult to speak and understand English at Primary level which made them to score low marks.
Homingo said SBC is good for the Country because everything revolves around standard, where teachers try to achieve.
Good News Lutheran Church Education Secretary, Pepowe Epara, commended the National Government for identifying the issue with OBE.
He said when OBE was introduced, teachers were left with limited resources to plan, program and teach students.
There was no proper standard all across PNG which had affected student learning. Epara also thanked the National Government for introducing 60 minutes of Christian Religious Studies in all the public schools in the country.
