KTF Modawa Scholarship supports aspiring Oro Teachers

The Modawa Institute of Higher Education (MIHE) in Popondetta is opening doors to opportunity, creating pathways for Oro’s students who once had limited access to further education. Home to the recently-launched David Hand School of Teaching and the long-respected Newton Theological College, MIHE gained official accreditation with DHERST in March 2025.

The School of Teaching welcomed its inaugural first year cohort of 19 Diploma in Teaching (Primary) students and as 2025 draws to a close, they have completed academic requirements for their Year 1 studies.

KTF Provides Opportunity for Oro Students

As part of our ongoing commitment to creating education pathways for the greater Kokoda region, KTF has established scholarships for up to 4 students to study at the School of Teaching at MIHE. 

The first three successful scholarship recipients completed their year 12 studies via FODE at KTF’s Kokoda College, and commenced at MIHE as part of the inaugural intake this year. They are:

• Eva Pausen 

• Paulus Akire 

• Jean Claire Tawae

Eva, Paulus and Jean Claire all aspire to return to teach at local primary schools on graduation - at  Dapari Primary School, Kiorota Primary School and Sorovi Primary School

respectively.

A fourth scholarship opportunity will be available to a student from the Kokoda region commencing at MIHE in 2026. 

Eva’s story

Eva Pausen has persisted over many years to reach this point in her education journey.

Her education was interrupted after completing Grade 10, due to lack of school fees. Marriage, work, and community responsibilities followed, but her commitment to learning remained.

In 2023, she made the deliberate decision to return to education, completing Grades 11 and 12 through FODE at Kokoda College. Eva understands the importance of education in rural and remote areas - as a mother and a volunteer Early Childhood teacher Taira Early Childhood School in her home of Kokoda.

Eva knew that she had to continue her own education journey to better serve her community. A member of her local Community Ward 18 Development Committee, she recognises the need to improve access and quality of education at her home.

However, taking the opportunity to study at Modawa was a big commitment.

It meant leaving her young family - 3 boys aged 6-13 - during term to board on campus, a 4 hour PMV ride from Sairope Village.

While studying her diploma, Eva is also upgrading her results in her favourite subjects - Chemistry, Biology, and General Mathematics - at Kokoda College to raise her GPA. It’s a challenge to balance study with responsibility, however Eva is managing with the support of her husband and children, and sustained by quiet resolve. This is the next step in her dream to teach primary students, believing deeply that education, once earned against the odds, must be carried back to the communities that need it most to continue the cycle of learning. 

“I want to become a teacher because at present, seeing inside Oro province, there are no teachers to teach here growing without education....

Most of the students are finding it difficult. When they are selected to grade 9, they stop at grade 10. They can’t go further to grade 11 and 12 because there are no teachers available.”

Through a strong and committed partnership between the Oro Provincial Government, the Anglican Church of PNG and KTF, with support from the PNGAus Partnership through the Kokoda Initiative and generous contributions from the Anglican Church and philanthropists in Australia and New Zealand, MIHE will help transform the education landscape in Oro Province.