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Monday 15, August, 2016 – Port Moresby, National Capital District|| An 8 year old boy living in the Saraga Settlement, in six mile, Port Moresby has skipped 4 grades due to his high academic performance.
Barnabas Tehe, 8, is currently in grade 3 at the Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, having skipped three initial classes of the elementary system schools.
His father, Barnabas Tehe, gave credit to the Saraga Community Learning Centre (CLC) where the boy attended preschool, learning phonics, reading and basic numeracy skills trough specially developed methods of teaching.
“The settlement that we are from is very bad and with the CLC coming in, it has really had a big impact on our community. There are many parents who don’t bother sending their children to school and the CLC has motivated many of our parents to send their children and value education because now, they can see a difference in their children,” Mr. Tehe said.
Many other parents have given feedback to the Foundation that their children are above average or top the class once they move into the system schools.
Digicel PNG Foundation supported CLCs give underprivileged children in the urban settlements and rural villages to develop a love for education and pursue it to the end.
Chief Executive Officer, Beatrice Mahuru, said CLCs have not only levelled the playing field but they’ve also raised the bar for early education.
“We are so delighted to hear that young Banabas is excelling at Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School. Digicel PNG Foundation is proud to be an education partner with Saraga CLC as we believe that education is the single biggest opportunity you can give a child. Banabas is an example of the importance of early education, that when you nurture a child in the early years, you set a strong foundation for them to excel academically in the years to follow,” Mahuru said.
To date Digicel PNG Foundation has funded 474 classrooms and 14 libraries, 22 Mobile Health Clinics, 4 rural Health Aid Posts, 3 Women’s Resource Centres, co-funded 5 Family Support Centres in partnership with UNICEF and NDoH, graduated 261 grassroots community based teachers in early childhood development and learning and over 15,000 men and women are now equipped with basic business skills.
900 people with special needs, their families and communities have been impacted by the Community Based Rehabilitation Program; and the Men of Honour Awards – a campaign against violence in PNG, is the latest to the Foundation’s development portfolio.
Established in October 2008, Digicel PNG Foundation has directly invested K55 million in PNG’s rural, remote and marginalized communities across all 22 provinces directly impacting over 500,000 people.
