There are over 500,000 school-aged children in Papua New Guinea (PNG) who cannot attend school due to the lack of teachers, infrastructure and school resources. In addition to this already struggling system, recent changes to the way elementary teachers are trained in PNG has impacted thousands of partially-trained elementary teachers who are at risk of exiting the teaching profession.

Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) is working to improve the lives and futures of Papua New Guineans by investing in education, health, livelihoods and leadership projects across PNG. KTF is partnering with the PNG National Department of Education, PNG Education Institute and 15 Provincial Divisions of Education to complete the training of a large cohort of partially-trained elementary teachers, some who have been volunteering in their schools for up to two decades.

To date, 2580 teachers have been trained through this important initiative, Teach for Tomorrow, allowing them to become fully certified and transferred onto Government payroll – keeping schools open and children learning.

KTF is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), and in 2018 is partnering with the Milne Bay Provincial Division of Education and PNGEI to train 88 more elementary teachers from across Milne Bay Province, a remote marine province in south eastern PNG.

The 22-week training program covers not only core elementary curriculum including literacy, numeracy and cultural studies but also a range of cross-cutting issues such as gender-equity, child protection and inclusive education. This gives teachers the knowledge, skills and tools required to create the most effective learning environments for their students. This program will keep over 3,500 children in school across Milne Bay Province.