BY SAMIE WAIKORI
AUKI
THE Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development and New Zealand Government have been asked to explain $40m the latter had promised to fund the publication of the newly developed curriculum for secondary schools (forms 1-5) in the country.
The query was raised following incomplete work done to print the entire materials prepared under the curriculum.
A senior English secondary teacher who was part of the curriculum workshop in 2004 and 2005, Mr Aloysio Arukeni made the query for clarification by the two authorities.
He said in 2004, the MEHRD organised the first curriculum workshop at King George Sixth School to do the first draft of the curriculum.
Arukeni said the second workshop was held in the preceding year (2005), and the final draft of the curriculum was made.
“As I can remember, a presentative from the New Zealand Government office in Honiara told us that NZG will fund the printing or publication of the curriculum with a promised sum of $40m.
“Around year 2009 and 2010, materials for forms one and two under the new curriculum were published and currently used in secondary schools in the country.
“However, the remaining materials for forms three to five which yet print or publish was questioned on when will it happen,” he asked.
Arukeni said teachers need clarification on the matter because only forms one and two are currently benefitting from the curriculum and not forms three to five as they should.
He stressed that the delay of printing the remaining materials under the curriculum affects students and teachers especially those who did ‘teacher intraining’ and newly graduated teachers.
“Because these are the materials teachers will need to do their lesson preparation to teach the students.
“So at the moment teachers teaching forms three to five are without these materials and they teach their students on what they know,” Arukeni said.
He emphasised that the concern here was quality education for students and without these curriculum it won’t achieve as one of the major area captured under the curriculum.
Arukeni asked the government through MEHRD and NZG to clarify who is delaying the remaining publication of this curriculum.
