Minister for Education, Dr Uke Kombra, OBE, reiterated the importance of the Government's 'No child left Behind' policy when speaking at the Year 8 graduation ceremony of Ono Primary School in Usino, Madang Province on Thursday, December 7. “We must ensure that all children enter the education system at preparatory and complete Grade 12. No one in PNG must be left behind.” He added that there are a number of changes as a result of the implementation of this policy: · We have introduced the tuition fee policy. The Tuition fee policy helps to relieve parents off the burden of paying school fees for their children and ensures no child is left behind due to non-payment of school fees. · Introduction of project fees in 2022. The Government started paying project fees for students starting in preparatory to grade 12 and vocational. The accountability of these funds rests with the community, Boards of Management (BOMs) and the school administration. “We will not come down to witness how you spend these funds. Parents have the right to question the board and administration of when these funds are received and how they are spent. “There are many schools that have used these funds to develop their schools well and there are also many schools that have not seen any changes.” · We have the 1-6-6 school structure policy that states that every Local Level Government (LLG) must have a high school. Dr. Kombra added that sometimes circumstances within the communities and financial constraints make it difficult for the government to provide education services. “If the community is peaceful and looks after the school, teachers and facilities and there is cooperation and support from parents and everyone in the community, then the schools and students will prosper.” “We must help to support our teachers with resources to help their work in order to improve the quality of education, train them, students must learn inside a clean classroom, and must have learning resources to use to learn.” Another issue Dr. Kombra highlighted was the issue of geographical and lack of internet access most schools have. “One of the areas that the Department can come in and support schools is with e-learning resources. The infrastructure here at Ono Primary School complements the e-learning policy. “Teachers do not have to go far to access the internet and resources to use to teach the children.” Dr. Kombra then commended the Minister, Hon. Jimmy Uguro, MP for his leadership. “Our country will not progress in terms of development if we don’t have the right leadership in place. “Education is no different. A leader in education with a vision, a dream and leadership qualities will ensure that the education system operates smoothly.” “We in the Ministry are happy that he is our political head because he is a teacher by profession and he understands the education system very well, he is well-versed with government policies that are being implemented by the Ministry and as a result the Ministry is administered well.” Dr. Kombra was invited by the Minister, Hon. Jimmy Uguro, MP to Ono Primary School to witness the opening of a new double classroom and launch of solar-powered e-learning devices.