Monday, March 29th, 2010 –Mt Hagen: the Digicel PNG Foundation launched its second new concept double classroom last Friday at Banz Foursquare Primary School in Banz, Western Highlands.

The Digicel PNG Foundation contributed K175,000 towards the new concept, steel structure, double classroom at Banz Foursquare Primary School. The new facility includes office space, 40 new double school benches, school black boards and two water tanks. It will accommodate the Grade 3 and 4 students starting their new school year.

The Banz Foursquare school started operations in 2008 with 60 students from Elementary to Grade 2. The community helped build the school’s initial four bush material classrooms but due to the rapidly increasing number of children they were forced to use the Church building for the Elementary classes. The enrollment numbers have doubled since 2008 with 135 children enrolled this school year from Elementary to Grade 4. Each year an extra grade is added as the school which plans to grow into a full Primary level school within the next few years. With the opening of the new double classroom the school now has sufficient facilities for all students to be educated in their own classrooms which will enhance the quality of education substantially and increase the motivation of both teachers and students.

This is the sixth school building project the Digicel Foundation has completed to date. The new concept steel frame double classroom took less than one month to construct which is considerably less than previous double classroom building projects which took an average of three months to complete. Valuable construction time was saved through the use of a  pre fabricated kit structure, steel frame solution, provided by Atlas Steel. Besides being able to construct the double classroom in record time the steel frame construction provides for a very solid solution with little maintenance needed thereby minimalising the financial burden for the school and the community. The Digicel Foundation is in the process of constructing another four steel frame double classrooms, across the country, which will be completed by the end of this month bringing the total to ten school projects funded by the Digicel Foundation since its inception only 18 months ago.

In addition the Digicel Foundation funded a two-day hygiene training programme through partner NGO, ATProjects, for school teachers, students and community members. During the training the 180 participants learnt how to construct their own toilets and bucket shower for the female students and learnt how to use them in a hygenic way.

The School Board Chairman, Ps. Timothy Apa, said during the official launch:
“This is a very special gift for us and a wonderful start to our new school year. The community has been contributing alot towards the development of this school for their children and have now been rewarded for their continous efforts. Our children now have a solid roof above their heads to keep them dry, promoting a productive learning environment and a higher quality of education. This is a building that we are proud of and that will be used by many generations to come.”

Marena Sansan, Board member of the Digicel Foundation and Digicel Regional Highlands Manager said: “We are very proud to be launching our first new concept double classroom in the Highlands today. The infrastructure of schools around the country needs urgent attention. This is a new solution that provides for a solid building which can be built quickly and has minimal ongoing maintenance costs. We hope that this new double classroom will provide the students with a better learning environment and will help them grow into strong and self supportive young adults. We would like to thank you for the warm support we have received from the community and we wish the teachers, students and their families a productive school year”.

The Digicel Foundation is working closely with Government, non-government organizations, churches and the private sector to get the Digicel Foundation’s many projects off the ground with the emphasis on the critical areas of Basic Education infrastructure and Family Support related infrastructural projects. To date the Digicel Foundation has funded 40 Community Learning Centres, ten primary school and 18 elementary school infrastructure projects, two Mobile Health Clinics and three Meri Seif Haus projects. A further four Family Support Centres in partnership with Government run hospitals and co-funded by UNICEF, are under construction with the first Family Support Centre planned for launch at the end of this month. By improving infrastructure in the areas of basic education and family support the Digicel Foundation strives to empower communities which in turn will endow them with a positive outlook for their future.