A senior secondary school board member in Lae says there has been a notable decline in the number of Morobe students going into engineering courses at the University of Technology.
Lae Secondary’s Board Chairman, Steven Mesa, says it’s a direct reflection of the shortage of Science and Math teachers and the Free Education Policy.
This comes after parents of students attending at least one Lae School complained that their children had not secured placing in higher learning institutions.
Steven Mesa has been closely following the progress of students from the Lae Secondary Schools over the last 4 years.
He has noted a steady decline in the number of students taking up engineering courses at the University of Technology.
While the decline is relatively less at the Lae secondary, it reflects an underlying problem, a shortage of maths and science teachers.
And it’s no surprise that figures released last week from other schools of Lae, show poor performance particularly in those subject areas.
He also attributes the general decline in education to the implementation of the free education policy.
The declining education standards are just the tip of a complex problem.
President of Divine word University says the recently abolished outcome based education also contributed to the decline from the primary school levels.
There are now positive steps taken by the government after the recent review of the PNG’s education system.
It will take at least five years before the results are seen.
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