By RODRICK DESURI
Auki
Unlike government schools that have access to grants, Kiu Community High School in Malaita Province survives and thrives only by financial contributions from parents.
The lack of access to school grants, aid donors and constituency funds is still a major setback for Kiu Community High School as it faces challenges in accessing them.
The motives behind the halt of funding, such as school grants, aid donors, PCDF, and constituency support for Kiu School, are not clear.
However, the Deputy Principal of Kiu Community High School, Amos Tafea’ataramae, said so far, they have shown community resilience in holding up the school to run without these external supports.
But, the reality is without these external supports the school can only manage to develop very slowly.
Tafea’ataramae said they can only carry out minor renovations and maintenance.
“In terms of school development, this is one of our main difficulties. So, with the only small amount that we receive from the tuition fees, we managed to do minor developments like renovations and maintenance work in the school,” he said.
The absence of funds not only disrupts school development, but also contributes to a lack of resources and required facilities for students.
“Since we have a growing population at the moment, we need more development in the school. Currently, we have a library, but it doesn’t cater to every student, and there are also scarce resources like reading books and others,” he said.
The learning environment for the students is also a grave issue, which the Deputy Principal said almost all their classrooms need to be extended to have more space and to accommodate new classrooms.
The school is also in dire need of a school hall for end-year programmes, like the graduation ceremonies.
“We also need a school hall. Every year during our graduation, we just use a classroom, which doesn’t accommodate everyone. At times, every parent stays outside of the classroom when they should be in the room witnessing their children graduating,” he said.
Other barriers faced at Kiu School are road access to Auki township and school boundary expansion.
Tafea’ataramae appeals to national and provincial leaders to visit their school and see for themselves what the school is facing.
He urges the provincial education authority, which is the body that oversees and is responsible for assessments of all schools in the province, to make an urgent assessment of their school to see for themselves.
“Yes, I want to call on national and provincial leaders, and especially our provincial education authority, to please make an attempt to visit every school in the province at any time next year.
“Through the visit and assessment of the schools, you’ll figure out what is most needed and what each school is facing, without saying that every school is running smoothly,” he said.
*Reporting for this story was supported by Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS)
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