669 more Elementary Teachers trained

12 November 2018

Last week, Australian non-government organisation, Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF), and its partners from the PNG Education Institute and Southern Highlands Department of Education, celebrated the training of 669 elementary teachers at two closing ceremonies in the Province. Over the past 6 weeks, KTF, PNGEI and the Provincial DOE have co-delivered the final instalment of training required for the 669 trainees to complete their certificates of elementary teaching and become fully-fledged and certified teachers.

Hosted within communities and Church-run facilities in Yaken and Karel, the 669 teachers came from all five districts across the Province, some travelling many days to the centrally-located training venues. Over the past 6 weeks, the teachers have participated in lectures focusing on curriculum, including the new Standards Based Curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting, literacy, numeracy, culture and community, gender, child protection and inclusive education. The teachers have also participated in practical teaching and a range of assessment and reflective exercises.

“A project of this magnitude was only possible by bringing together a consortium of donors and partners which enabled us to deliver the training” said Dr Genevieve Nelson, CEO of KTF. “This was our largest consortium of financial and in-kind donors to date and included generous support from ExxonMobil PNG, DFAT’s ANCP, Steamships, Flight Centre Foundation, James Family Foundation, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited and PNG Air. We are truly grateful to all who contributed to make this training such a success.”

Nine months ago, communities across Southern Highlands Province suffered the devastating impact of the Highlands earthquake which meant that KTF had to delay the roll-out of the teacher training program in both Southern Highlands and Hela. Now that the Southern Highlands program has been completed, KTF and PNGEI are turning their attention to the final Province of Hela which still has partially-trained elementary teachers.

Since its formation in 2016, the partnership between KTF, PNGEI and NDOE has trained 3,354 elementary teachers across 13 Provinces.