Bilum Books are proving a valuable resource to teachers who want to foster both fluency and a love of English among their students.
Rachel Damien, a teacher who has taught for fourteen years, said she was first introduced to Bilum Books six years ago in which she has found them to be of positive teaching and learning resources.
“Bilum Books have helped our students to build their reading skills at an early stage, starting from Preparatory, Grade 1 and 2 and from there are then ready for Grade 3.”
“The child-centered learning activities and lessons are interesting and promote good student attendance.
“Because the children are interested in what we are teaching them, they come to school every day.”
Ms. Damien was among 150 early grade teachers who recently undertook a three-day intensive workshop on the use of the Bilum Books texts, dictionaries, and teacher guides.
The books are designed to assist teachers in teaching the National Department of Education Standard-Based Curriculum English Syllabus.
The workshop also gave her the opportunity to refresh her teaching approach to English reading, comprehension, and phonics.
Another teacher and participant, Agnes Kairu, explained that the training helped her to assess children individually and to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to help assist her in preparing quality lessons.
“I have taught in schools for 25 years, and I can see that Bilum Books will help young children with phonics, speaking better English at an early age and to really understand the content of English; written and spoken.”
The training was facilitated by Bilum Books and supported by the NDoE through the Sandaun Provincial Education Department, with support from the Papua New Guinea and Australia Partnerships for Improving Education (PIE) Program.
Similar training activities have also been completed for Central and Enga provinces as well as the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.