The Modawa Institute of Higher Education in Popondetta PNG has taken another step forward with classes starting in the David Hand School of Teaching. A class of 18 students has commenced studies for a Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching), alongside a class of similar size in Theology.

Principal, Bishop Jeffrey Driver, said this first year intake in education was intentionally a small one. “This is a soft start. We are learning and growing, introducing new staff and new requirements, so we want our take our time and build carefully”.

Bishop Jeffrey said the small intake also reflected the poor standards in secondary education across the Northern Province. “While there were many more applicants for the course, a majority did not meet the entry level required by Government authorities. This in its own way underlines the importance of developing teacher-training in this part of the country. Ultimately it will lift the standards for education in a part of the country that is educationally disadvantaged”.

Preparations for this development have been going on for about two years, with enlargements to lecture theatres, improvements to the library, ICT, and staff housing. Staffing has had to be expanded, with qualified academics in the disciplines required by the national curriculum for teacher training. The cost of some of this additional staffing will eventually be met by the Department of Higher Education, but in the meantime the institute has to carefully manage a much-expanded budget while at the same time still investing in more infrastructure.

Students in Theology
In the meantime, the institute has a new intake in theology, with about 17 ordinands and eight day students. With Fr Giles Motisi heading off to Australia to work part-time in a parish and further his studies, Fr Gabriel Manae has been appointed Deputy Principal by the Governing Council. Fr Spencer Kombega has also joined the academic team.

Students this year come from the dioceses of Popondetta, Aipo Rongo, New Guinea Islands and Dogura. Most will be studying a two-year certificate in theology, including an ordination formation program. Some will move on to a diploma program, but National Government guidelines will not allow students with less than a Year 12 qualification to undertake diploma or degree studies.

Further studies
One of the goals of the Modawa Institute is to lift the educational standards of church leaders in PNG, both lay and ordained. A long term goal is to be able to offer degree level studies on campus, but in the meantime, we look to our partners for opportunities.

This year, Fr Giles Motisi has taken up a parish appointment in Gippsland, Australia, while seeking to study within the Melbourne College of Divinity. Newly ordained deacons, Martin Ogoba and Gabriel Gai, have started studies at the Catholic Instituter in Port Moresby. We have also applied for scholarship support for Fr Gabriel Manae pursue Masters Degree qualifications.

Deans and Principals meet in Auckland
Heads of Theological Schools from around the Pacific met in Auckland in March. Bishop Jeffrey Driver attended for the Modawa Institute. The theme was “Indigenising Anglican Theology” and representatives came from Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, as well as South Pacific Countries. St John’s College in Auckland provided wonderful hospitality as well as profound insight into the journey of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa’s continuing journey to embrace Māori culture into its mainstream life and spirituality.

Please remember our students. Each week they face basic challenges such as the provision of an adequate diet for their families, access to healthcare, or items like school uniforms. Some of our ordination candidates receive no financial support from their dioceses and rely almost entirely on the small allowance we provide of K 150 a month for a family (about $AUD 55) for all their extra needs. They make great sacrifices to train for ministry.

An Easter Blessing – Registration Granted
The Modawa Institute of Higher Education in Popondetta PNG is now a registered higher education provider under the National Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST). The institute received news of its registration in the days after Easter Sunday. The registration announcement represented the culmination of several years of work by the Principal, Bishop Jeffrey Driver, and the Modawa Team. It involved preparation and submission of a detailed proposal addressing national standards for quality assurance similar to those that are the basis of higher education requirements in countries like Australia and New Zealand.

The institute was then subject to an intensive audit in November last year and the report from this audit was the basis of the granting of registration. There were qualifications. The registration approval was accompanied by 28 recommendations for campus development and quality improvement. Bishop Jeffrey welcomed both the news of the registration and the recommendations for ongoing improvement. “We are a new institute and a regional one. But this does not mean that we should set our sights on second best. Our goal is to deliver a quality of education comparable to anywhere in the country”.

New Head of Teaching
Ms Jean Ifuda has been appointed Head of the David Hand School of Teaching. A woman with an Oro Province background, Ms Ifuda has been working over recent years in Port Moresby. She holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Newcastle in Australia as well as teaching qualifications from PNG. She is not only a highly credentialed teacher, she has very significant experience in institutional leadership. Jean will take up her appointment in August.

In other staffing news, Mr Dick Kolai has joined the Modawa Team. Coming to us from the Diocese of Aipo Rongo, Mr Kolai, has previously been a teacher at Newton Theological College. In his new appointment, he will combine some teaching with general campus administration.

Work begins on Women’s Accommodation
Prefabricated buildings have arrived for new boarding facilities for female students. There will be two accommodation cottages and an amenities block. The buildings will be constructed by our team of carpenters over the coming months. Funding for this project came from a number of courses, the DFAT Incentive Fund, the Kokoda Track Foundation, the H&W Williams Trust (NZ) and the Diocese of Melbourne. The buildings should be ready and fitted out for first semester next year.

Modawa Partners with Oro Government in Police Reserve Training
The Modawa Institute is entering an agreement with the Northern Provincial Government to provide facilities for Police reserve Training. The training program will use boarding facilities and lecture rooms when they are not in use for Modawa programs. Principal, Bishop Jeffrey, said that he was pleased to be able to support the Provincial Government in this initiative. “Law and order is a big issue throughout PNG and part of the answer is better training for those responsible for law enforcement. Better police training means more respected police and that is a great outcome for PNG”, the bishop said. The training initiative will provide an additional income for the institute as well as benefitting the Province.

Planning for Nursing Diploma
The institute has assembled a working group that has been set the goal of introducing a Diploma of Nursing Program for the Modawa Institute by 2027. Mrs Estelle Jogoba LM has been working on this project, which will involve introducing the national curriculum for nursing to the Institute. We hope to draw in the St Margaret’s Community Health Workers Training School at the same time as the establishment of the School of Nursing. One of the contributors to this working group is Dr Robin Ray, from Brisbane. Dr Ray is a specialist in health studies curricula and has already spent time at the institute with her husband Bishop William Ray.

Tenkyu Tru to Bishop Jeffrey
Not long after retiring from being Archbishop of Adelaide, Bishop Jeffrey Driver was invited by the House of Bishops to visit Newton College and to assess its viability. The college was in a mess. It was effectively bankrupt. Staff had not been paid. Buildings were falling down and the teaching program was languishing. The then principal, Fr Peter Moi, was seriously ill. What started as a week-long visit became an eight year commitment, with Bishop Jeffrey, supported by his wife Lindy, spending about half of each Semester in Popondetta, teaching, reorganising, planning and building.

As of June, Bishop Jeffrey steps down from being Principal. He was farewelled at a special service at the end of May. Fr Gabriel Manae celebrated the Eucharist and Bishop Jeffrey preached, with the service followed by a bung kai (special feast), including food prepared in a traditional mumu (food wrapped in banana leaves and slow cooked in the ground with heated rocks).

Provincial Education Advisor, Mr Maino Vegoli, said that Bishop Jeffrey had come to the Province as a gift of God. “We had tried for ten years to get a teachers’ college going and we failed. But then you came to us and now we have our teacher’s college”.

Bishop Jeffrey said that while he was stepping down from the role of Principal. he would continue to support the institute as a mentor and advisor. “In this institute we have something wonderful. But it is just an infant. It will need support and care for years to come. This institute has grown to the point where a part-time principal flying in from Australia is just not enough”.

The bishop said that he would commit to another two years, spending four to six weeks in PNG to continue mentoring and supporting the development of the Modawa Institute.

For Your Prayers and Support
The development of the Modawa Institute of Higher Education has come about by the contribution and commitment of many, both in PNG and with our international stakeholders. But it is still and infant in swaddling clothes, full of potential but very fragile. It will continue to need the support of friends and partners if it is to fulfil its potential.

You can support ABM’s ongoing operational grants to the Bishop Newton School of Theology by going to www.abmission.org/partners/newton