The recent 7th National Science and Technology Conference that was hosted at the PNG University of Technology, in Lae, was a hub of knowledge, ideas, experiences and information.
The four-day conference, which started on Monday, July 1st, had 73 presenters from PNG as well as from the international research community, including China, Kenya, India, Malaysia and Slovakia.
One of the presenters who captivated attendees with his passion and eloquence was Elias Wranga, who was submission 63: ‘Practical STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in education’.
Wranga, who is originally from East Sepik Province, established a School of Excellence in Kiunga, Western Province, in 2015, and started enrolments the next year.
His teaching career has spanned 14 years, and he currently has 60 students in his school, called the ‘Cross Country School of Excellence’.
When talking about his submission on July 3rd, he said: “The presentation was quite interesting and fascinating because it comprises all the practical work that I have been doing over the past 10 years and, more or less, it’s looking at project-based learning, or we call it practical STEM in education, whereby all the maths and the science and the different fields that we do, are brought into the classrooms.
“The major skills include creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Everyone who comes out of the school system needs to have the four major c’s.”
Wranga started his own school because he did not believe in ‘silo teaching and learning’; an approach rooted in the current curriculum where learning is a one-way street.
“It means I am the disseminator of information and you are going to listen to me only,” he explained. “The teacher is dominating the lesson. It’s called silo teaching and learning. Also, it means that, you stick to your own subject. You teach English, that’s it. English. There is no integration, collaboration or partnership.”
Wranga says in the new global shift in education, integrated teaching and learning approach needs to be the focus not only in secondary schools but also brought down to the elementary and primary school levels.
This article was first published by TV WAN on 5th July 2024: TVWAN
