WESTERN FODE

Balimo College Tertiary Studies

In 2022, Western Province’s first-ever teacher’s college was established at Balimo College. The Balimo Teachers College (an initiative called for in the Fly River Provincial Government 5-Year Development Plan) delivers a Diploma of Primary Teaching. Balimo College is a SDP education initiative, delivered in partnership with KTF and with technical support from Western Sydney University.

Through this successful partnership, Balimo College offers pre-service training for future teachers from Western Province, with the goal of preparing them for local employment. The College also aims to provide in-service training for existing teachers.  

In 2024, 101 students are undertaking a Diploma of Primary Teaching at Balimo College; 49 of these students progressed from an SDP/KTF FODE Program.

Balimo FODE College and the western FODE programs are a PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP) education initiative delivered in partnership with KTF.

Western Province is one of the largest and most inaccessible in Papua New Guinea, with vast flatland river systems abutting mountain ranges in the north and very limited infrastructure and transport options. A sparse population makes accessing education, particularly at a secondary level, challenging outside the provincial capital of Daru.

With villages dotted between rivers and tributaries, dinghy or canoes are often the most common transport options, the FODE model works particularly well. The combination of intensive, face-to-face learning coupled with self-directed study and assignments (supported by e-learning) each term avoids long periods away from home to attend college; something that is not an option for many, particularly women with family commitments.

Balimo FODE College

Commencing operations in 2019, Balimo FODE College rapidly became KTF’s largest Flexible Open Distance Education (FODE) College with over 300 students studying grades 9 to 12. It acts as a hub for our four additional FODE programs that were established in Western Province due to the rapidly increasing demand for education opportunities:

• St Gabriel’s FODE Centre - Our newest campus located in Kiunga, North Fly opened in 2021, offering grades 10 to 12.

• Morehead FODE Centre - Morehead offers grades 9 to 12 studies to students in remote areas wanting to progress to further studies in education, health and other career paths.

• Lake Murray FODE - Located in one of the most remote regions of Western Province, the complex serpentine length of Lake Murray spans an area of approximately 650 km, nearly three times the size of PNG's capital, Port Moresby. Lake Murray FODE provides accessible secondary education to tiny remote villages dotted along this vast shoreline.

• Western Outreach - Based out of two locations in Western Province, Daru and Kiunga, the Western Outreach Program brings FODE education directly to teachers in remote communities needing to upgrade their qualifications to remain in the profession.

Student profile: Helen Mowagi

Helen Mowagi is from Kaniya village, a six-hour dinghy ride from Balimo. Having commenced her Diploma in Primary Teaching, Helen is now one step closer to her dream of becoming a teacher.

Witnessing the shortage of teachers and overcrowding of classes in her village, Helen wants to be part of the solution by helping to tackle the chronic teacher shortages in remote Western provinces. Such is Helen’s commitment to education that, in 2019, she gave birth on the weekend and sat her Grade 10 FODE examinations on the Monday. She was able to study due to the flexibility afforded by the Balimo College FODE program, which provided the time, resources and teaching support that enabled her to diligently apply herself to her studies while juggling home life with four children aged between 2 and 13. Sitting her Grade 12 national examinations at the end of 2021, scoring a GPA of 2.8 earned Helen a place at the Balimo Teachers College in 2022. She also received the Principals and Dux Awards.

In 2024, Helen is now in her final year of her Diploma of Teaching!

Helen is a prime example of how SDP’s education program is addressing poor access to education in Western Province by offering a pathway to secondary and then tertiary studies for aspiring teachers and, in the not-too-distant future, for nurses and other health workers.
Read more about Balimo College using the link below.