Newcrest Mining Lihir has sponsored five Lihirian students this year for high school studies at the Lihir International School (LIS) as part of its continued investment in Lihir, Namatanai district, New Ireland province. These students are in the second batch of sponsored Lihirian students attending LIS under Newcrest Lihir’s School to Mine High School Scholarship program.
The sponsorship now brings the number of sponsored Lihirian students at LIS to 10, with mostly girls. Hellen Kiapron, Madlyne Ratoh, Evelyn Lamam, Mary Arau and Jonathan Kambek are proud recipients of the scholarship. They are former grade eight students of Samo, Urban, Palie, Malie and Lakuplien primary schools in the Nimamar Local Level Government.
Newcrest initially rolled out this scholarship program last year to provide an international-standard education to high performing local students in government schools, whose selection are based on their national grade eight exam results.
“As a business, we are proud that our scholarship program is creating an opportunity for young high-performing
local Lihirians to succeed further in their education. This is a significant step in developing the human resource of
Lihir and New Ireland province,” said Newcrest Mining Lihir’s Human Resource Manager Alex Rogea.
“The increase in high-performing female students across schools in Lihir is also encouraging; it shows that more local girls are becoming serious about their education. Essentially, this complements Newcrest’s focus on promoting diversity and inclusion in our workplaces, homes, and communities,” he added.
Pious Ausur and Mary Arau said the scholarship program has given their daughter, Mary Arau, an excellent
opportunity to excel and meet international education standards.
“The program is also an incentive; many Lihirian parents are now encouraging and supporting their children to
perform well in local schools, so that they can qualify for the scholarship program,” said Mr Ausur.
Joe Lamam and Rose Kuninie said their daughter, Evelyn Lamam, is an inspiration to her siblings.
They said their daughter’s study habits has greatly influenced her siblings to study more, describing it as ‘positive’
for their family and their local community at Lisel.
Lawrence Kambek and Elizabeth Pulemum from Kanan, Matakues, are thankful that the scholarship program
eased their financial struggle for their son’s school fees.
Their son, Jonathan Kambek, is the first child from Kanan community to attend LIS through the scholarship program.
Another parent, Samson Kiapron, said the scholarship program has given his daughter a new experience.
“I am enjoying my studies, and I appreciate that my teachers are helpful and approachable,” said young Hellen Kiapron.
Furthermore, scholarship recipient Madlyn Ratoh has wowed her family with her performance since she started her year nine studies at LIS.
“We are happy that my sister is learning a lot and learning fast too. We thank Newcrest for providing this opportunity for the next generation of Lihirians. Though the program is new, it is the first step to a world of
opportunities,” said Madlyn Ratoh’s elder sibling, Jennifer Gerard.
Caption: Lihirian students (front row) with their parents and teachers