A total of 266 Grade 10 students from De La Salle Catholic Secondary School in Port Moresby city participated in the Senisim PNG Program on Monday 14th July 2025, under a partnership between the Education Department and the PNG Tribal Foundation.
These 266 students are the first batch of students out of more than 1,000 students in Grades 9 to 12 who will take part in the Senisim PNG program. The Senisim program for students is a transformation roundtable focused on good values and servant leadership which is initiated by the Maxwell Leadership Foundation.
The program will guide students through values-based training via group sessions over the next 11 weeks, with the main sessions to kick start next week at the school.
Senisim Pasin National Coordinator for Education, Mr. Manasseh Davey, said the school’s administration is excited to be part of the program.
“We’ve started with the Grade 10 students, and the Grade 12s will join tomorrow Wednesday 16th July 2025, and we look forward to engaging the entire school in the coming weeks.”
Allan Jim, First Secretary of the Education Department’s Guidance and Counselling Division for the Highlands and New Guinea Islands, highlighted the importance of such initiatives.
“There is an absence of good morals and practiced values in schools, at home, and in society,” he said.
“I am seeing students chewing betelnut and smoking in their uniforms at many schools, and as a parent, it worries me, therefore we need to improve the attitudes and behaviors of our children, our future generation.”
Mr. Jim added, “I’ve gone through the training with staff from the Education Department, and we want every school to be part of this program.”
Mr. Davey confirmed that De La Salle Catholic Secondary School is the fourth school to partner with the PNG Tribal Foundation and expressed optimism that more schools will join the program in the near future.