MERCY EDUCATION PROGRAM WEWAK, PNG

Preamble

Since the late 1970's the Sisters of Mercy have tried to address the needs of education for women in PNG. Many women here are still held in low esteem and certainly not given the same rights as the men. In 1985 Catherine House was opened as a CODE (College of Distance Education Centre). Once established, assistance was also given to some young prisoners in the Boram Jail. There has been a waxing and waning of the program over the years but in 2003 a revised Mercy Education Program was put into place.

This program was set up to cater for young women who are disadvantaged in some ways. Some live too far away to easily access an Education centre; some are financially unable to afford boarding fees; others have been excluded from school because they have not gained the marks required (an Upper Pass = 70%-80% ) to be promoted to the next grade.

Papua New Guinea's Education system

The Education System in PNG is slowly developing and recently a Five Year Plan was promulgated but currently there are many flaws.

To name but a few:

• The Education Department has little cash;
• Teachers have a high rate of absenteeism;
• Text books are few;
• Children are often 10 years old before they enter the formal education system;
• Many students would have a poor attendance record as there is not much attention paid overall to student absenteeism.

The list could go on but the result is that many students reach secondary school with very limited knowledge and skills and are therefore disadvantaged in many academic and life skills.

It is the hope of the Papua New Guinea Mercy Sisters that this program although small will be able to address some of the educational needs of disadvantaged women.

Back to Projects