A national training program for 1965 lower primary school teachers to improve mathematics and science proficiency in students has begun.
The program called Boosting Education Standards Together in PNG (BEST PNG) is supported by donor partner Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Save the Children is the grant agent. This program is implemented by the Department of Education in six targeted provinces West New Britain, West Sepik, Milne Bay, Oro, Western and Gulf.
The BEST PNG program is aimed at improving lower primary students’ learning outcomes in mathematics and science in low performing provinces through strengthened pre-service and in-service teacher education, expanded access to teacher training for female teachers and improved access to textbooks.
Furthermore, the program aims at increased enrolment of female students in lower secondary schools› a more efficient use of Government Tuition Free Subsidy (GTFS) school grants to improve access and learning outcomes› and improved Grade 5 literacy learning outcomes.
Secretary for Education Dr Uke Kombra said according to the Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment, students at lower primary have generally improved, but a considerable number of students continue to struggle with fundamental skills.
“Learning outcomes have become a concern after the 2015 PILNA found that PNG grade 5 students were less likely to achieve the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy than regional peers in the Pacific,” Secretary Kombra said.
Dr Kombra also said that students in urban schools outperformed those in non-urban schools and there are significant variations between provinces in literacy and numeracy. That is why the BEST PNG Program is an intervention strategy to support and improve students with lowest end of proficiency scale.
During the trainings, teachers were reminded of the PILNA report and the worrying trend in which PNG needed to improve benchmarks. The current training is aimed at implementing strategies using Standard Based Curriculum (SBC) Mathematics Module 1 where teachers are trained to link teachers’ manual/guides with students’ text books.
Secretary Kombra has expressed satisfaction that the trainings allowed teachers to fully understand the syllabuses, teachers’ guides, manuals and national students’ text books and are able to link those materials in planning and teaching.
“Through the training, it is expected that PNG will see changes in setting benchmarks and any improvement in any future PILNA reports,” the Secretary said.