Perseverance to Improve Education

Herman Namora, 21, is a 3rd-year student studying Literature at the University of Papua New Guinea. He is from Madang and is passionate about the importance of education.

Having made it thus far to the highest learning institution prompted him to help those less fortunate.  He was concerned about so many Grade 8 and 10 school leavers pushed out of the education system with no hope of advancing their career paths and returning to the village where social issues impacted their way of life.

His concerns started back in 2019 after completing Grade 12. He had returned to the village during the holidays to find out that one primary school had enrolled 60 Grade 8 students only to pass out 13 while 47 were back in the village.

 This scenario experienced in most rural schools persuaded Herman to do a survey with primary school teachers. The teachers expressed concern that students struggled with English and faced difficulties with reading and comprehension.

Herman decided then to help in any way he can. He gathered young adults in the community and conducted awareness on the importance of early childhood learning. With the help of the Catholic Diocese and Madang Teachers College, 14 school leavers were taught Phonics to be able to return and serve their communities.

Their work is voluntary and for two teachers who returned to Dallam they faced challenges such as setting up a classroom and sourcing materials coupled with ethnic clashes which hindered the progress of their teaching but all was not lost, the community realized the keen interest in learning by children aged 3 to 5 years and decided to build a classroom.

After two years and sheer determination, the first batch of graduands from the Early Childhood Learning school will be certified at the end of this month.

There is still more work to be done but excitement is in the air for Dallam village as they prepare for graduation day.  For Herman and the teachers, all the work is voluntary and they hope to seek funding for learning materials and reading books for the children.