MP reveals plans for rewarding academic excellence

Posted on The National

MEMBER for Yangoru-Saussia and Minister for National Planning Richard Maru said his district will reward academic excellence as of next year.
Maru made the announcement when opening a classroom at Paparom Primary School in the Numbo LLG on June 19.
The infrastructure was funded by the Yangoru-Saussia District
Development Authority under its district services improvement programme and was built at a cost of K250,000.
Maru was particularly pleased to learn that for the past 10 years, Paparom Primary had been in the top 10 of high-performing schools in the province.
Last year, the school was ranked first in the district and second in the province in terms of academic excellence.
“Clearly Paparom you have done very well in your academic performance, congratulations to the students, teachers and head teacher,” Maru said.
He said the focus was now on improving quality education, hence the establishment of a district education academic board to be led by the district CEO and the district’s head teachers of high schools and secondary schools with the role of setting academic standards, tests and exams to ensure the standards in all schools were raised.
“We have to get rid of teachers who do not perform,” he said.
“They have to go; we don’t need them in Yangoru-Saussia.
“I want teachers, staff and schools who focus on academic performance and give the best to our students in the district.
“We are spending money on classrooms and I want performance in the classroom.
“We are building because we want the best facilities and teachers for our students, so the teachers must perform their duties accordingly.
“I want to see an improvement in academic performance on top of our investment in the physical infrastructure.”
Maru also announced that starting next year, the district would have an official academic year start – Education Day for Yangoru-Saussia.
“On that day, we will give shields and prizes to the top performing schools in the district,” he said.
“We will start to reward excellence in public.”
He said every year, 30,000 students sit for the grade 12 exams, and that number was growing.
Out of that number, 23,000 miss out on securing spaces at higher institutions.
Maru said this was the reason why the district was now prioritising quality education to push its students to perform outstandingly at the national level.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/mp-reveals-plans-for-rewarding-academic-excellence/