Child Fund Papua New Guinea (PNG) has donated a set of braille learning packs to Callen Services in Gerehu in Port Moresby for students with special needs yesterday.
The donation ceremony was attended by National Department of Education Reps for inclusive education along with the Project Manager and Country Director for Child Fund PNG, with the presence of the Callen staffs.
The ceremony took off with the Country Director for Child Funds Anand Das revealing that the organization is in partnership with the National Department for Education and other education agencies to implement the Education Emergency Response and Recovery Plan (EERRP) project.
“We are working with the guidance of the National Department of Education and also the provincial Departments of education to implementing this project which has already been approved”
“We are getting support from the UNICEF and Australian High Commission in terms of grants and funding along with other donors to support and implement Global Partnership Education (GPE) through the EERRP Project”, said Mr Das.
According to Project Manager Mr. Rhett Koswan, he clarified that the objective of the project was to sustain learning after the Covid-19 Pandemic and taking into consideration students with significant needs.
He gave an overview of the implementation of the project in different provinces within the country.
“This will enable teachers and officers to be equipped with necessary skills and tools to be able to identify and cater for students with particular significant and emotional needs.”
“The Disaster Risk Management program reached almost 3, 000 schools across the five provinces for this program and the five provinces are NCD, Morobe, Madang, Sandaun and Western Province, and the Psychological Support Program has almost reached 6, 000 teachers in all of the baseline schools that were identified in the survey for the EERRP Program”, said the Project Manager Mr Koswan.
The Disaster Risk Management program and the Psychological Support Program fall under the main EERRP Project and has been carried out in the 5 provinces and will be extending its arm throughout this year according to Mr. Koswan.
The Education team for inclusive learning led by Director Arnold Koima received the braille learning equipment from Project Manager Mr. Koswan and in his act of gratitude he commented that these materials will go a long way in helping and sustaining education for those students with significant needs in Callen and the country as a whole.
Senior Teacher for Callen Services Ms. Noring William expressed her gratefulness to Child Fund along with the NDoE for their efforts in putting this together.
“We are very thankful on behalf of the resource centers in the country and grateful that you have selected Callen Services Inclusive Education Resource Center (IERC) Gerehu and it is a privilege to have you guys here to present this assistance such as the adult kits, learning materials, as well as the aesthetic devices to improving learning for our special students”, said Ms. Noring.