Authorities urged to fix Madang schools

Source: The National

MANY parents with children attending schools in Madang want education authorities to look into restoring and renovating old school buildings and provide more teachers’ houses.
A concerned parent said this yesterday after recent reports of the shortage of space during enrollment.
The parent, who was a former board member of one of the schools and who did not want to sound biased, said most of the infrastructure in schools around Madang town such as Tusbab, Kusbau, Jomba and Mero at Sagalau were in dire need of repair and major renovation.
“At Holy Spirit High, there is a serious shortage of teachers’ houses, Kusbau is falling apart. You should see the staff houses; it is like putting the chickens in a chicken coop.
“There must be major renovation to classrooms to cater for the large number of students coming in.
“Teachers will only be happy to perform if their living conditions are improved,” he said.
The parent also stressed that landowners were taking advantage of the usage of land and occupying teachers’ houses illegally.
The example, he stressed, was in Jomba where a Yabob landowner occupied a staff house and had been living there for several years.
He said the issue of shortage was not only a problem at Tusbab but the entire country and most had never been reported.
He also supported Tusbab Secondary School principal Margret Valakvi’s call for more secondary schools to be opened in Madang.