Balimo College and satellite centres
Balimo College is a PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP) education initiative, managed by KTF.
Commencing operations in 2019, Balimo College rapidly became KTF’s largest Flexible Open Distance Education (FODE) centre with 300 students studying grades 9 to 12.
In an exciting development, from 2022 the College also offers tertiary studies to those wanting to pursue teaching, the first in Western Province to offer the course. The Diploma of Primary Teaching has an inaugural cohort of 40 students.
Balimo College FODE
Western Province is one of the largest and most inaccessible in Papua New Guinea, with vast flatland river systems abutting mountain ranges in the north and very limited infrastructure and transport options. A sparse population makes accessing education, particularly at a secondary level, challenging outside the provincial capital of Daru.
With villages dotted between rivers and tributaries, dinghy or canoes are often the most common transport options, the FODE model works particularly well. The combination of intensive, face-to-face learning coupled with self-directed study and assignments (supported by e-learning) each term avoids long periods away from home to attend college; something that is not an option for many, particularly women with family commitments.
The demand for studies in rural and remote Western Province has led us to establish two additional satellite centres offering a second chance education pathway for those in the remote areas of Morehead in South Fly and Kiunga in North Fly.
Morehead FODE Centre
Morehead offers grades 9 to 12 studies to students in the remote area wanting to either upgrade their results or resume their education journey to enable them to progress to further studies in education, health and other career paths.
St Gabriel’s FODE Centre
Our newest campus located in Kiunga, North Fly opened in 2021, offering grade 10 studies in its inaugural year. Grade 11 and beyond will be added as the first year cohort progresses to matriculation.
Balimo College Tertiary Studies
Balimo College in Western Province has welcomed its first intake of 40 students who are now enrolled in the Primary Teacher training program. It is the first ever Teachers College for Western Province (an initiative called for in the Fly River Provincial Government 5-Year Development Plan). The College is a SDP education initiative, managed by KTF with technical support from Western Sydney University.
Through this successful partnership, Balimo College offers pre-service training for future teachers aimed at training Western Province people for employment in locally. The College also aims to offer in-service training for existing teachers.
In February 2022, 40 students including graduating FODE students have progressed to become the first cohort studying their Diploma of Primary Teaching at Balimo College.
Student profile: Helen Mowagi
“I would like to teach in my province. It’s the first of its kind for us to have a teachers’ college here in Balimo. It is really exciting for me, and my family is very happy that I am going into the new teachers’ college and they are supporting me.”
Helen Mowagi is from Kaniya village, a six-hour dinghy ride from Balimo. Having commenced her Diploma in Primary Teaching, Helen is now one step closer to her dream of becoming a teacher.
Witnessing the shortage of teachers and overcrowding of classes in her village, Helen wants to be part of the solution by helping to tackle the chronic teacher shortages in remote Western Province. Such is Helen’s commitment to education that, in 2019, she gave birth on the weekend and sat her Grade 10 FODE examinations on the Monday. She was able to study due to the flexibility afforded by the Balimo College FODE program, which provided the time, resources and teaching support which enabled her to diligently apply herself to her studies while juggling home life with four children aged between 2 and 13. Sitting her Grade 12 national examinations at the end of 2021, scoring a GPA of 2.8 earned Helen a place at the Balimo College in 2022. She was also received the Principal’s and Dux Awards.
Helen is a prime example of how SDP’s education program is addressing poor access to education in Western Province by offering a pathway to secondary and then tertiary studies for aspiring teachers and, in the not-too-distant future, for nurses and other health workers. (Community Health Worker training is scheduled to start next year).
Balimo College and its satellite centres at Morehead and St Gabriel’s are an initiative of the PNG Sustainable Development Program implemented in partnership with KTF.
