Papua New Guinea World Vision held a one-day public forum focusing on elementary education in Madang province.
The forum stems from the ‘Together for Education Project’ aimed at enhancing access to quality elementary education for girls and boys in the three selected provinces of Central, Madang, and Morobe.
The one-day event is aimed at encouraging discussions and engaging the different partners and stakeholders who are engaged in the project.
The Together for Education project is funded by the Australian Government in partnership with the PNG government through the PNG Partnership Fund.
In Madang province, the pilot project was undertaken to ensure children have access to quality elementary education. The project was designed to promote the development and utilization of the School Learning Improvement Plans or SLIP Plans.
The project started in 2018 with the training of trainers, workshops including teacher training, coaching and mentoring, as well as, school and community awareness on SLIP.
In Madang at least 468 students across 25 selected schools took part in the project.
The project has found a significant need for more similar programs to help elementary education for both students learning and teacher training.
According to World Vision, the project has produced a favorable outcome in terms of numeracy and literacy skills in the students learning have improved.
“The teacher training that we are doing, the coaching and mentoring that we did as a follow-through, to the teacher in-service training is doing good because we are seeing results at the level of the elementary children,” said World Vision Chief of Party, Imelda Ochavillo.
The project is piloted in the three selected provinces only and the extension of the project would depend very much on the availability of the budget.
However, the donor would continue funding the project for another two years in the three provinces.
By Martha Louis – EM TV News, Madang
