Minister-Counsellor opens girls’ dormitory at the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Tapini
Sacred Heart Secondary School in Tapini will soon be able to enrol more girls, thanks to a newly upgraded dormitory.
Australia’s Minister-Counsellor Diane Barclay joined Central Governor Hon Rufina Peter and Member for Goilala Hon Casmiro Aia, Cardinal Sir John Ribat, and the school community to open the girls’ dormitory on Friday, 23 August 2024.
The school received a grant of PGK 10.18 million from the Australian Government’s Incentive Fund to upgrade and construct new school facilities to deliver high-quality secondary education to students in the district.
The expanded facilities will enhance the living conditions for girls, providing increased opportunities for them to pursue their education in a safe and supportive environment. These upgraded facilities were specially designed to support the health, and hygiene needs of female students.
Ms. Barclay said a good education sets a strong foundation for the development of future leaders. The school improvements are a crucial step towards achieving better educational outcomes for girls in Goilala District.
“The upgraded dormitory provides scope for 48 additional boarding spaces at the school which is the only secondary school in the Goilala district. I am delighted that we can continue to support the school to deliver high-quality secondary education to more students,” Ms. Barclay said.
Both male and female students were given sanitary packs in the lead-up to the opening as part of the Incentive Fund gender equality, disability, social inclusion and safeguarding training.
The latest project also includes the new construction of 2 female students’ ablution blocks and 2 teachers’ houses and upgrades to the existing female dormitory, administration building, staff houses, school clinic, rural technology building, day-student toilet block and a classroom.
Australia has previously provided grants of approximately K20 million towards upgrading and expanding the school’s infrastructure. Collectively, these projects have allowed the school to increase enrolments, offer more subjects including computing and IT, and graduate its first-ever year 12 students in 2019. The school also progressed to become a secondary school.
The benefits of these projects have extended well beyond the school, with the hydro-power station and water supply for Tapini both restored and upgraded through the Incentive Fund following landslides in the 1980s.
The Incentive Fund is an Australian Government competitive grants program that seeks to improve social and economic development outcomes for Papua New Guinean communities.
