01/05/2012 20:26

A child in a rural classroom in PNG's Milne Bay province. Picture courtesy of MS-Starship.com

 

By Elsie Loth @ PNG Students in Oz (AusAID Scholars)

I brought my daughter from Australia to my village Gabsongkeg in the Wampar LLG area in Morobe province's Huon District, Papua New Guinea to reside temporary with her grandparents and attend Gabmazung Primary School while I look for a place to rent in the city of Port Moresby.

For the first three weeks I was in Gabsongkeg I had to walk with her from Highlands Highway down to the main village and then down to Gabmazung mission station, where the school is located. It is about 4 km from where my parents are living.

I last visited the school 20 years ago so going back I was heartbroken seeing the same infrastructure with no major improvements or maintenance. The school is in a nice location allowing students to mingle around, play sports or study.

The educational establishment has produced some of the best brains in the Wampar LLG area in Huon District, Morobe province. They served in both the government or private sectors and even abroad. My father was also a product of Gabmazung Primary school.

On my daughter's first day at school I found out that her classroom was made of bush material with no desks for pupils to sit down and write. In fact grades 3-7 have no desks at all or less number of desks for students. I was told by the school administration that funds will be made available for desks this year. Now whether it eventuates or not and despite limited resources, students just accept whatever life throws at them, which is really sad.

To my dismay, I also found out that there was shortage of teachers. For two weeks while bringing my daughter to and from school every day on foot (which was hard to except at first as we were so used to the luxury of a motor vehicle or public transport). But this time we're back home so we might as well follow everyone on foot. I also had the pleasure of experiencing what teaching was all about in a village setting. I had to assist a young graduate from Madang Teachers College for two weeks to teach grade 3 students. I also found out that most students did not know how to read English in elementary schools before they entered grade 3, which confirmed the sad state of affairs in the school.

However I learnt something within those three weeks. Most of us educated elites don't really see or feel the needs and problems of our people, until we go home and live among them and see how difficult it can be. My daughter attending class in a bush-material classroom shocked me initially. In fact most of my friends and families advised that I take her and enrolled her at an international school in Lae. However, I realized that she did not need to attend international school after all. If her grandfather came out of Gabmazung to go as far as the University of Papua New Guinea, then I might as well enroll her in the same school.

I am trying to assist the school in some way and am looking for people or organizations to support it with reading books and school material, as the school library shelves remain dusty and lack reading books or even old books. I am concerned about the future of these young kids so I am doing whatever I can possibly do to assist, instead of waiting around for handouts from politicians.

And my advice to you all if you are going home for vacation, try look around your community to see if you can help in a small way because your contribution can make a difference in your community. Note that it is your contribution and action that is going to help change the mindset of our people. They need us as much as we need them.

I was asked by the school principal to stay back and teach mathematics to grades 7-8 students but I had to leave due to work commitments. Consequently I have decided to contribute one way or another to the school by getting reading material. So if any of you have contacts for organizations that are willing to assist the school with reading material for grades 1-8 please do not hesitate to contact me via email on sama432011@hotmail.com or eloth@works.gov.pg

• Elsie Loth was awarded an AusAID Scholarship in 2011 to pursue an undergraduate degree in environmental engineering at the James Cook University. However she withdrew from studies over personal reasons and will return to the JCU (Townsville Campus) to continue her scholarship in 2014.