Sevese Morea Primary School in Papua New Guinea welcomes GPE visitors

A heavy downpour did not dampen the excitement of students.

UNICEF Papua New Guinea
GPE team, led by Muhammed Tariq Khan inspect the WASH facilities at Sevese Morea Primary School in Port Moresby.
UNICEF/UN0668669/Kana
12 July 2022

A heavy downpour did not dampen the excitement of students from the Sevese Morea Primary School in Port Moresby as they went out of their way to host visitors from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) during a visit to Papua New Guinea in May 2022.

Members of the visiting team pose for a photo after the school visit
UNICEF/UN0668679/Kana
Members of the visiting team pose for a photo after the school visit

The visiting GPE team, led by Muhammed Tariq Khan, Senior Education Specialist and Country Team Lead, were joined by senior key officials from the National Department of Education led by a/Deputy Secretary Mrs. Ann Marie Kona and representatives from the Australian High Commission, UNICEF, JICA, Save the Children, ChildFund and World Vision to see WASH and Education interventions in the school that were implemented by the PNG Government’s Education in Emergencies Response and Recovery Plan (EERRP) through the generous funding support provided by GPE that is also partly funded by the Australian Government through the PNG Australia Partnership program. The EERRP is facilitated by UNICEF.

The visiting GPE and NDoH team listen to teachers talk about the interventions the school received.
UNICEF/UN0668670/Kana
The visiting GPE and NDoH team listen to teachers talk about the interventions the school received.
A student from Sevese Morea Primary School using the new WASH facilities.
UNICEF/UN0668677/Kana
A student from Sevese Morea Primary School using the new WASH facilities.
A student from Sevese Morea Primary School using the tablet from the Spark Kit to support his learning.
UNICEF/UN0668671/Kana
A student from Sevese Morea Primary School using the tablet from the Spark Kit to support his learning.

These interventions, as part of the COVID-19 response, include handwashing stations that were installed to provide students with access to clean water and to promote handwashing practice. Students are also benefitting from educational interventions like the Spark Kits – a tablet that contains a digital library of books filled with culturally relevant, age appropriate, original content for children in PNG, and Home Learning and Booster Packs aimed at helping students catch up on lessons that they missed when schools were forced to suspend classes due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.

Sevese Morea Primary School students engage with the visiting GPE team.
UNICEF/UN0668678/Kana
Sevese Morea Primary School students engage with the visiting GPE team.
A teacher at Sevese Morea Primary School in Port Moresby explains how the booster pack is used.
UNICEF/UN0668676/Kana
A teacher at Sevese Morea Primary School in Port Moresby explains how the booster pack is used.

The visiting team also engaged with students and teachers who explained how the Home Learning and Booster Packs were being used to encourage student to continue learning at home.

Grade 8 teacher, Fransica Kitawal (left) explains how the Home Learning Pack is used.
UNICEF/UN0668672/Kana
Grade 8 teacher, Fransica Kitawal (left) explains how the Home Learning Pack is used.

There have been other instances where the interventions have been beneficial for students beyond the disruption of the pandemic.

“We have shift classes now because of ongoing construction in the school and classes are being disturbed. Children are not at school every day so this Home Learning Pack (HLP) is extremely helpful for this kind of situation. There are certain days that students stay at home and when they return the next day, we use the booster pack for assessment and when we find out their learning gaps, we do lesson plans to address these gaps,” says Grade 8 teacher, Francisca Kitawal.

A display of material that teachers use to to help provide psychosocial support services to students
UNICEF/UN0668674/Kana
A display of material that teachers use to to help provide psychosocial support services to students

As a school receiving support from the EERRP rollout plan in NCD, some staff recently completed training on psychosocial support (PSS) for children, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), WASH in schools’ management and maintenance practices, use of the HLPs and Booster pack to support remote learning and ICT support for learning with portable digital learning resource packs.

GPE Support

Below is a summary of interventions supported by GPE to date through collaborative efforts led by the NDoE and partners.

Beneficiaries Interventions
An estimated 300,000 Elementary, Primary and Secondary school students (female: 135,931) Accessed 2,142 hours of radio and television lessons;
5,772 Home Learning Packs Distributed across 6 locations (271 for Early Childhood Education | 1226 for Grade 1-2 | 1957 for Lower Primary | 1957 for Upper Primary | 361 -for Secondary)
67 trainers Capacitated to complete rollout training for 7,362 (female: 4,318) parents and caregivers on “Parenting in Emergencies”.
171 Schools Received 1,286 handwashing units and 90 tanks
450 schools Received training and communication materials on COVID-19 prevention
In 2021, 259,410 students (female: 90,794) Were provided with face masks to safely sit for national examinations
5,775 (F:2,839) school personnel in 418 schools Trained to provide psychosocial support and sensitization on GBV prevention. 
1,151 schools Received 2,052 temperature guns and PPE for 649,730 students
1,200 (female: 403) participants from 905 schools Received training on School Disaster Risk Management (DRM) planning and School Learning Improvement Plans (SLIPs) mainstreaming Climate Change mitigation and health related risks learning from the COVID-19 pandemic
Approximately 649,730 teachers and students Reached with vaccination awareness information, education and communication materials (IEC) in targeted locations and Back to School incentive pack procurement and distribution reaching 135 schools and centers.
135 schools and Centers Received school incentive packs
1,151 schools

Received 174 ECD kits; 1,098 school in a carton pack; 306 carton packs of drawing books; 11,185 backpacks, 1,267 menstrual hygiene management kits, 4,058 solar radios with light and 2,613 reading books.