Life PNG Care is a charity organization that is looking after and attending to the basic needs of the unfortunate children supporting them through education, but one of its education projects has not been running for some time due to a lack of financial support.
The Director of Life PNG Care, Mr. Collin Pake, said their Mobile School project that they ran in the settlement areas in the city of Port Moresby, has not been operating since the COVID- 19 pandemic hit.
Mr. Pake said Kumul Petroleum Holding Limited (KPHL) was supporting their Mobile School project but when the COVID pandemic hit, he said that support was diverted to the health sector.
“Since COVID, we did not run the school, so we stopped the project. We started Mobile School in 2017,” Mr. Pake said.
He said in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to stop the project, but they are thinking of reviving it with support from potential sponsors because of its significance.
He explained that the aim of this particular project is to provide education to the children who are unable to attend school due to other factors.
He said the government is providing free education, but there are other factors that can lead to children not being able to attend school and that’s where they come in with the Mobile School that they host.
“They are not in school because they have no uniforms, they may have no stationaries. Government is saying free education, but uniform is not free, bus fare is not free. So, because of these associated costs, children don’t want to go to school, especially children from parents who are not working.”
He said that it’s through this project that they identify those unfortunate children and put them through formal education.
“We have a program called Strongim Pikinini Education Program and under that program, we identify children who are unfortunate, who are unable to go to school.”
“We have a process that we assess called Identification, Assessment and Assistance. So, in that program, we have to identify the kids that meet the criteria to benefit, and it’s a long-term support for them,” said the director.
Life PNG Care is being supported by some organizations to deliver some of its programs, but there are other areas that will need further support, like the Mobile School.