PRIME Minister Hon James Marape says parents should be responsible for the education of their children and not expect the Government to do everything.
He said this on Wednesday when presenting K158 million to Education Minister Hon Jimmy Uguro – the last tranche of the K632 million for 2022 – for school fee assistance.
PM Marape, a former Education Minister from 2008-2011, also announced that the Government this year allocated K160 million for project fees to bring its contribution to education for 2022 up to K792 million.
He said this was to ensure that all children were in school as the Government continued to invest heavily in the Education Sector.
“This is because of our firm view that education is our children’s right,” PM Marape said.
“No child should be left behind. All the interventions we are making are geared towards empowering the next generation to get up, get going, be skilled in a better Papua New Guinea.”
PM Marape said that if the Government was spending in this manner, parents and citizens also had a role to play.
“It is unfair for lazy parents and citizens to cruise through life, expecting that Government will carry the load,” he said.
“Citizens of the country must be responsible and not expect Government to carry the load all the time.
“This year, in hard times, we are not only paying the total K792 million but are also supporting Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP), Higher Education Contribution Assistance Scheme (HECAS) and Tertiary Education Study Assistance Scheme (TESAS).
“When you look at it, in totality, we’ve come up with a holistic package since 2019 to assist parents get by in as far as their children’s education is concerned.
“If Government is coming in a big way, to support education all the way from elementary to universities and colleges, what is the role of you parents?
“Simple things: Don’t go and fight and challenge the school administration; allow school administrations to be run by the Education Department; support the schools wherever you are with security, giving resources to the school, working for the school, cleaning the school.
“Some of us, where we were growing up, had parents and citizens coming up to help the school, clean the school, build the school
“Today, we have lazy Papua New Guineans expecting Government or someone else to do the job, except for themselves.”
