Quality Teacher training and Education

 

Quality teacher is someone who has the full potential to impart knowledge to another person using the knowledge the teacher has. Quality teacher training according to my understanding refers to the knowledge imparted to the teachers especially in the colleges before they go into the teaching field. Quality teacher Education and training is the greatest concern of the Department of Education in PNG which has been stated in the National Education Plan. There are a numerous factors that affect the education system of Papua New Guinea. This write-up will discuss the points which the Department of Education can take as helpful tools to make some  changes in the education planning of the country. Points of discussion in this essay will be based on the selection of the students from year twelve into teaching colleges, personal view on the progress of the policies on the ground and what can take to ensure if the social policies are making positive changes in the communities.   

The profession of the teaching career in any country has to be understood that it is the backbone of any nation building in terms of human resource and capacity building. Teaching is not a profession but it is art that comes from the heart of a person (Ms Monica Sikas, DWU). In most cases in Papua New Guinea many grade 12 leavers go into colleges because of the low requirements. The calling of going into teachers colleges does not come from the heart but from the mind. According to the research finding by UNESCO in 2010 it has been proven that out of the Gross enrollment ratio of 95 percent enrolled in elementary schools on 2.1 percent are able to receive tertiary level. The education system of PNG is like a triangular prism. The question to pose now is where do the rest of the students go to?  Many students leave school due to teachers’ attitudes towards the students (post-courier 2009).

To avoid these problems the office of higher Education in PNG should elevate the required Great Point Average (GPA) a student should get in order to secure a place in any teachers college. Many students apply to primary teaching colleges because of the fear of not securing a place in the universities. So where is justice in this practice? Because of the low GPA’s our colleges in the country are getting the wrong people and when they graduate the focus will not be on the students but to themselves. Thus, this can be justified by the fact the most children when asked why they are not in school, they will say our teacher does come for class. This is very common among young teaching staffs in rural schools.

How can it be justified that a teacher graduating from a college with a out dated library and an environment which is not conducive for learning have enough knowledge to impart to the students? Most teaching colleges in Papua New Guinea do not have facilities which enhance the knowledge of the students. And also how much knowledge can a lecturer in the college impart onto the teacher within two years?  Unless, it is a calling from within, then there is no doubt for a diploma graduating teacher to do a fine job.

When a child is enrolled in school it is the teacher’s responsibility to mould and shape the wellbeing of that particular child. That is the reason why teachers in both elementary and primary schools should take teaching as a ministry or art, rather than a profession. The teacher is the one whom the children will be spending five days of the week with and not the parents. Thus, apart from the parents, teacher is also the one who will determine the future of that child. The high school and secondary levels cannot be a burden to the teachers if the foundation (elementary and primary) is firm.

So far according to a couple of students (Tusbab Secondary School) interviewed they revealed that most students going into high schools do not know how to construct a grammatically correct sentences (Coelina Matbob). This depicts that there is no quality teaching at the elementary and primary levels. It can simply be said that the plans made by the Department of Education is not gaining fruition. Besides that there is no tasked force to monitor the implementation of the plans drawn. That is the downside of the education plan of the country, not only the education plan but health, law and justice, the constitution itself and all policies and plans in other sectors of the government of Papua New Guinea.

Education department of the day has done a lot of positive impacts in the country in terms of producing Human resources in public sector and private as well. In the urban areas especially, the impart of education is vivid. However, the department has a lot to do in the rural areas of the country. So far, we only have the church providing education service in the remotest part of PNG.  

Every policies and plan made in PNG is made a certain group of people, these plans are done after need is identified. Policies and plans are drawn by the policy makers; the implementers are consulted to air their views only (Mr Gigil. D Marme, Health Management, DWU). It is better to boldly involve the implementers in the drawing of the policies and plans because it is them who will be implementing the plans with a clear knowledge.

In most cases today, plans are drawn and kept in the offices, thus it not widely known, so how can it be implemented effectively when it is not known to the implementers? A classic example I can give is in Bougainville. We the Bougainville students association of Divine Word University and University of Papua New Guinea conducted a awareness program in 2011 and we went visiting schools in the rural areas. After the awareness I had a conversation with a teacher from Morobe Province and I asked “How are you teachers implementing the V2050 in here?” She replied to me and said “you know sister I should not be affected by this vision as long as I have my bread and butter on the table because I do not know anything about this vision.”

                                                                                                                   

These policies, especially the education plan in this sense is not gaining much fruition because of the simple fact that it is not widely known and also PNG is producing human resources in quantity and not quality. If we have a human resource integrally developed and are willing to sacrifice for the good of the country, then PNG would be in a better position to execute all the plans. This would be the downside of drawing up plans which are seen as not practical; indeed they are practical.  That is the reason why I believe in quality teacher education and training because once the implementer is educated well; he or she will have heart for the country and will personally implement the plan despite challenges.

 Geography according to my understanding is another biggest constraint in the implementation of the education plan. This is in a sense that seventy percent (70%) of the people in Papua New Guinea live in the rural area in the mist of rugged mountains and valleys. For a island country of PNG which is about 445, 897 square kilometers big excluding the scattered island provinces like Manus, New Ireland New Britain and Bougainville as well some districts of Milne Bay, depending mostly on foreign aids it is hard to execute a plan.

This factor makes linkage of road difficult, and so the quality education services the people deserve do not reach those in the rural parts of PNG.

Money seems to be another factor which is hindering the implementation of the plans. Bribery which is the deadliest game played in PNG. “Bribery is eating away the credibility of public service in Papua New Guinea” (Mapun Papol). The mentality many implementers are having today is to get some good money under the table before carrying out the task. This practice is contributing so much in crippling our nation. According to one of the PNG pukpuk articles it has been stated that bribery is PNG way of life. “Is bribery Papua New Guinea’s way of life?”

I for one do not believe in that, reciprocity yes, it is a value found in our Melanesian way. Reciprocity is a value for maintaining our safety net and it is not meant to be abused by us. This value is not practice in a way that a person has to be paid first before doing the job. Many public servants today are abusing the reciprocity system by getting paid before executing the task. If this practice is said to be a culture by the policy makers, then there no point in drawing up plans and executing it because economically Papua New Guinea is still relying on the external sources of aid.

In the Medium term development plan, it has been planned that every sectors development plans has to have a follow up committee. Education Department at the national level has that, How about the provincial and district level? In 2007 Bougainville formed a force and named it Bougainville Education Task Force. It was composed of teachers and educationist from all over Bougainville. Their mission was to visit all the school (elementary, primary, vocational and secondary though out the region) which they did. And after their visit the drew up Bougainville Education plan 2008-2016. 

The problem they have a dissemination of information. Many of the teachers in Bougainville p to this date know that Bougainville has her own education plan. However, they do not know the content of the plan. And also there is no follow up committee who can be there to ensure that all the plans are carried out in the way it should be. If Bougainville can bring such a committee inplace the education plan can be executed accordingly. According to Mr Gigil, he mentioned that the plans should be disseminated from the top to the implementers so that they will know what to do. We do have many quality teachers in the country who are doing fine job as implementers but the problem is communication.

Papua New Guinea is a state that has only one government and under that government we have different department who are there to serve the people of the country and their government. In order for the government to progress these departments under that government should maintain communication and work juxtaposed to each other. Communication is the exchange and flow of information from one person to another (department to department).

Education department for instance needs the help of the National electoral commission for the population size in order to draw up a plan that could be accurate and not based on estimation. It also needs the law and justice sector department to know what crimes are common among the youths of the day so that the education department can plan for what to teach that can address the law and order issue of the country. Communication is the vital to for good governance.

Quality teacher training and education is a need in Papua New Guinea. The office of Higher Education in PNG must elevate the GPA of the students who to secure a place in any teaching college from year twelve in secondary school. Teacher training years should be extended from two years because two years is not enough in terms of preparing a teacher for a lifetime job of nation building. Personality, the education plan of the country is not progressing well because the plan is not widely known and also the implementers are not involved boldly in the plan making. Communication is a vital tool for positive community development. I for one recommend that all departments should maintain communication to move PNG forward. So, now it is a challenge for every one of us what we can do for our country in our professional fields in the near future. How am I contributing to implement the education plan of PNG?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Conclusion

·         Date:10 September 2012 http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=289&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5980&BR_Region=40515

·         Date 10 September 2012

http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2009/May/05-18-com.htm

·         Dorney.S (1990), Papua New Guinea-people political and History since 1975, Random House, Canberra, Australia

·         Flaherty.A. T(Woman Voice in Education- Identity and participation in a changing Papua New Guinea, Sat Prachar Press, Delhi, India

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