By Jack Lapauve Jr – EMTV News, Port Moresby
Two elementary schools in the Mt Koiari area of Kokoda will access new education facilities delivered by the Australian Government through the Kokoda Initiative. The double classrooms were constructed at Manari Elementary School and Boridi Elementary School of Central Province.
Manari also received a new staff house, which will be occupied by the school principal. The new classrooms will provide over 100 elementary students from Manari and Boridi, and the nearby villages of Milei, Daoi and Kagi, with better learning environments to encourage attendance at school.
The new classroom at Boridi is the first permanent school building in the village. Students will be able to use desks and chairs for the first time after previously sitting on the ground in classrooms made of bush materials.
“Every year the parents go to the bush to cut trees and collect bush materials to fix the classroom and it’s very hard work,” said Bosco Mailu, Boridi Elementary School chairman and village leader.
“This new double classroom, with new chairs and tables, is something new in our school and village, and we are very excited. The parents are very happy, the whole village is happy.”
Since September 2017, a total of 16 new buildings have been completed along the Kokoda Track through the Kokoda Initiative program.
