East New Britain (ENB) leaders are urging immediate action to address the province's declining education standards. Deputy Provincial Administrator for Socio-Economic Services, Marakan Uvano, stressed that every stakeholder must take responsibility to improve education in the province. “Now we know our downs and what we can improve on in our own line of work, to better education standards in the province,” Uvano said during a presentation in August. The call for improvement follows a comprehensive research study conducted by the PNG Education Advocacy Network (PEAN) in collaboration with the ENB provincial government. The study, titled “Challenges of Delivering Quality Education in ENB,” highlighted major challenges contributing to the province’s decline in educational performance. Presenting the findings towards the end of August at Malapau Beach Resort, PEAN Executive Director David Kumie stated that the decline in education in ENB mirrors national trends. “The decline in education in ENB is similar to what is currently experienced in relation to delivering quality education in the entire country,” Kumie said. Key factors identified in the study include insufficient school infrastructure, a drop in the quality of teacher training, poor student engagement, and the high cost of educating children. According to Kumie, these issues have been prevalent for some time, as ENB schools have not ranked among the nation's top ten since 2017. The research was conducted last September and involved 52 primary and secondary school headteachers, 30 secondary school teachers, 208 primary school teachers, and 171 secondary school students across 208 schools. The research findings will be reviewed by the Provincial Education Board for final approval and documentation. Acting Provincial Education Advisor, Wilson Kairat, also acknowledged the concerns raised. “We didn’t have evidence-based statements, so we are thankful that the research has revealed a lot for us, in terms of delivering quality education in the province," Kairat said. Uvano reiterated the importance of adopting new methods to address these challenges and ensure improvements in the education system.