THE National Office for Child and Family Services (NOCFS) is committed to support and improve early childhood learning and development in the country, says Chief Executive Officer Mr Jerry Wap.
Mr Wap said this last Friday when delivering his remarks at the launching of the Early Childhood Learning (ECL) programme of the Reformation Ministry Churches Network (RMCN) in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province.
The ECL programme comes under the church’s Realistic Investigative Social Enterprise Artistic Conventional (RISEAC) education and training services.
ECL is a key human development component under the country’s National Framework for Ward Development (NFWD) administered by the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs (DPLLGA).
The ECL, which caters for children from 0-5 years-old, will be rolled out in the country under a tripartite partnership that involves the NOCFS, DPLLGA and RMCN.
This partnership is aimed at supporting the establishment and operation of ECL centres in the country’s 6,912 wards.
This initiative reflects the Government’s commitment to strengthening human capital development from the grassroots level by ensuring that children throughout the country have access to quality early childhood learning opportunities.
It is envisioned that these centres will become focal points for early childhood education, family development, literacy promotion and community empowerment.
The programme was among other human resource development initiatives that were collectively launched at the Mara Haus Conference Centre by the RMCN and its partners.
Mr Wap, who was a guest speaker at the occasion, said his office stands ready to support any genuine programmes and efforts that aims to positively impact the lives of children and families in the country.
“The NOCFS has a mission statement called: change a generation, shape the future. In this mission, we see that children are the backbone and foundation for change in the next 50-years,” Mr Wap said.
“I am here to show my support as the chief executive officer of the NOCFS. We will work with the church. With this partnership, we can reach the unreachable people in the communities and in wards,” he said.
Citing a recent research, Mr Wap explained that about 85 per
cent of children in Papua New Guinea have experienced some form of violence in their lives.
Mr Wap said this is a national concern and needs a collective effort of all stakeholders to address.
Mr Wap thanked the RMCN for partnering with the government to assist in educating and developing children at the ward level through the RISEAC-ECL programme.
“I want to thank the church for partnering with the government—the NOCFS and the DPLLGA in this endeavour,” Mr Wap said.
“Sometimes we are not in the communities, we only make policies in Waigani, but it is partners like churches who are with the people in the communities and deliver services,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Sabina Mong, the director of RMCN Education Services, said they have been working on the RISEAC programme in the last eight-years to ensure it achieves a better outcome in the country’s human resource development aspirations.
“RISEAC human resource development model is going to redesign the human resource of this country through education, training, scholarship, recruitment and work placement,” Mrs Mong said.
“Children are the next generation that will carry this nation forward in the next 50-years. We are thankful to the national government for making that connection and having all the partners coming on board,” she said.