The new girls dormitory 
New boys dormitory 
Inside girls new dormitory 
The current girls dormitories 
A hut where the students sit and have their meals 
The new mess under construction 
New ablution block for girls 
Yangoru-Saussia MP Richard Maru welcomed and led to the stage by the traditional dancers 
Ribbon cutting to officially open the new dormitories
By MICHELLE AUAMOROMORO
KUBALIA Secondary School in the Yangoru-Saussia District of East Sepik had a peaceful celebration on Friday, May 6 as they officially opened what the school’s principal Albert Tuongama called the ‘generational’ investment.
The school received two 80-men dormitories, two septic ablution blocks with four shower rooms and four toilets inside, a water supply that would benefit not just the school but everyone at Kubalia station, and a mess which is under construction.
All these were funded by the Yangoru-Saussia DDA under the leadership of Hon. Richard Maru.
Tuogama said this was a big change for the school since its establishment.
He said the school only changed name and status from high school to secondary school but it had remained the same until these recent investments.
The mess, once completed, would change what was once before where the students had their meals while sitting on the grass or under an open shed built from bush materials.
“I thought we would stay the same but now I see pillars for a modern mess; a mess that we have been looking for is now rising,” said Tuogama.
He said also with the water supply, the students would now not struggle anymore to carry containers and go find water to cook their meals during dry seasons.
“Our struggles of looking for water has finally been relieved; we would now no longer go to the bush to look for water because we would be getting water from the tap,” he said.
Tuogama said the students would move into the new dormitories this week and they would do away with pit toilets and start using septic ablutions.
Maru said the school had the reason to celebrate because they had received the best dormitories in the entire East Sepik.
“There is no other school in the province, including my former high school, Brandy Secondary School that has this quality and class of dormitory that you are receiving.
“The dormitories cost K1.5 million (K75, 000 for each),” said Maru.
“We are not coming here to invest in some cheap second-hand building; we are giving you the best.
“I will make sure that the dormitories here (at Kubalia Secondary) become the standard for the whole district,” he said.
Including the water supply and the mess, the DDA had invested K2.8 million to Kubalia Secondary School.
“You don’t have a gold mine or a copper mine here but you have children so education is your future and that is why we have to improve and invest in all school facilities and make them the best in the province and the country,” said Maru.
Maru said a new science lab similar to that of Passam National High School would follow after the completion of the mess.
“These are very significant commitment for the people of Sausso because I have been concerned that there are not many educated people from the area so I am here to back them up to rise up,” he said.
“With these new facilities, I expect better results in academic performance,” he added.
Maru also encouraged the school to go into commercial chicken farming if the trial, that is now underway turns out successful.
“I will encourage Kubalia Secondary School and other secondary schools with big land like this (like Kubalia Secondary’s) to go into commercial chicken farming to supplement the funding for the school in the future,” said Maru.
In the future, I want schools in Yangoru-Saussia to be self-funding and independent,” he said.
“At the same time, the students, while working in the farm would get use to the idea of doing business,” he added.
Meanwhile, the East Sepik Provincial Executive Manager for Education, Raymond Bakavi called on Kubalia Secondary School to take in grades 7 and 8 starting next year.
Pictures by PAU UKUMA
