Mougulu Secondary celebrate graduation of their 1st Year 12 cohort (credit: Mandy Glass)

Hard-to-reach schools in rural PNG have been promised more financial support as per new government reforms, which aim to make access to education fairer across the country, despite geographical barriers. This is good news for Mougulu Secondary – a remote, jungle school enabled by MAF – which recently saw the graduation of its first ever cohort of Year 12 students.

For years, isolated schools in rural Papua New Guinea – some 80% of the population – have felt forgotten and ignored. But now, they are due more government support than their urban counterparts.

PNG’s Education Minister Lucas Dekena is seeking to address the previously unjust distribution of tuition fee grants which, since 2012, have been allocated without taking the accessibility or geography of schools into consideration.

Mougulu Secondary School has no road or river access (credit: Mandy Glass)

Mougulu is surrounded by jungles, swamps & mountains (credit: Matt Painter)

The PNG government’s ‘2025 Free Education Policy’, claims that schools in hard-to-reach areas will receive the necessary funding to provide comparable education offered by schools in towns and cities. Minister Dekena has promised to make education more accessible and inclusive for every child:

‘In 2025, this policy will adjust funding to reflect the locality of schools. It will pay student fees based on locality. The Government is committed to ensuring that every student has access to quality education.

‘The Government Free Education Policy (GFEP) is designed to eliminate dropouts and will enable all students to complete 13 years of universal education. I have approved this because it is more equitable.’

Lucas Dekena, Papua New Guinea’s Education Minister

Secluded but supported by MAF

The Government’s announcement is welcomed by secluded Mougulu Secondary, which is the only secondary school in the whole of Middle Fly District in PNG’s Western Province.

Founder Sally Lloyd & school head Ian Lloyd, award gifts to graduates (credit: M. Glass)

Mougulu Secondary was founded in 2020 by Sally Lloyd – director of Strickland Bosavi Foundation, which supports the school and other community projects within the region.

The school teaches around 300 students from 16 villages. Mougulu has no road or river access, so the only way to reach it is by air or on foot. The nearest towns – Kiunga and Tari – are a one-week trek away.

On foot, it can take three days to reach the school from some of the villages. There is a boarding option for the majority of students who live too far away for a daily commute.

Set deep within the jungle, the school wouldn’t exist without MAF. It was MAF who flew in the building supplies and equipment, and continues to fly in materials for new building projects. In fact, every week, MAF supports the school with one or two critical flights.

Without MAF, teachers wouldn’t be able to get to work and students wouldn’t have any school resources.

Without MAF’s food deliveries, Mougulu people would go hungry (credit: Sally Lloyd)

Without MAF, people wouldn’t be able to eat – MAF regularly flies in food and essential supplies including rice, vegetables, tinned fish and noodles.

Without MAF, people would die – MAF flies in medical supplies and medevacs patients out to hospital.

Without MAF, there would be no solar power to generate energy or communications to connect to the outside world.

Without MAF, locals walk one week to access life’s essentials (credit: Matt Painter)

Maika Yabua, Deputy Head of Mougulu Secondary School, sums up the situation:

‘We rely on MAF to transport food for the school and bring in our building supplies and stationery. Most of our teachers are from other provinces and they need reliable transport – the only way to travel quickly is by MAF. We rely on MAF during exam time to deliver exam papers and return them to the education office in Kiunga on time. Without the airstrip and MAF, it would be impossible for our school to function.’

MAF even delivers student exam papers (credit: Sally Lloyd)

A range of services, staff and stuff can be flown in an hour from MAF’s main base in Mount Hagen – the capital city of PNG’s Western Highlands Province. The alternative? One week’s trek to Kiunga or Tari to access life’s essentials!

Small beginnings

Maika has progressed to deputy head of the school (credit: Mandy Glass)

Maika started teaching science at Mougulu Secondary in 2021. He is the only university graduate from his village (Dodomona), which has a population of around 1,800.

At the start of Maika’s teaching career, working in such a remote place was very challenging for both teachers and the school. Sally explains:

‘It’s very difficult for our teachers. The education system here means that new graduate teachers might take a year or more to get onto the payroll. Maika taught for nearly a year and a half without any pay – it can take that long for the system to catch up! When teachers are not paid by the government and the school isn’t funded properly, it becomes quite difficult to maintain the school and to keep your teachers.

‘Funding can take a long time. Part of it is due to the education system and part of it is down to remoteness. There’s always a lot of paperwork where you have to attend a courthouse to sign papers. Most people – even in PNG – don’t realise the challenges of isolation where it’s almost impossible to get to town to sign a paper. It costs a lot of money to travel and then you might get stuck for a month or more before you can find a way back again. It’s a failure in the system to keep up and see ahead.’

Sally Lloyd: ‘Most people don’t realise the challenges of isolation.’ (credit: Matt Painter)

Now that the PNG government’s ‘2025 Free Education Policy’ has started, it’s hoped that remote teachers like Maika and schools like Mougulu Secondary will start to benefit from a fairer and more efficient system.

Success despite the challenges

23 Year 12 graduates contemplate their future (credit: Mandy Glass)

In spite of the challenges that Mougulu Secondary face, Maika has been promoted to deputy head, and in November, the first cohort of Year 12s graduated. 23 graduates – three women and 20 men – are now weighing up their future options.

Graduate Julianne wants to be a nurse (credit: Mandy Glass)

Julianne from isolated Suabi Village was determined to complete her education when Mougulu Secondary School opened:

‘I want to go to nursing college in Balimo (Western Province) because I want to help my community.’

Graduate Otty wants to be an economist (credit: Otty Sasy)

Otty is from Mougulu. Unlike Julianne, he lives a lot closer to the school. He funded his own education and that of his three brothers via his own business selling a range of items. He buys his stock from Tari and transports it back to Mougulu via MAF plane:

‘I want to study at university and become an economist. I love maths! I’ve just passed maths, business studies and economics. I want to settle in my homeland to help my people. For university, I will try to pay my fees for the first year and see if it’s possible. God is the provider of everything. He has supported me through my journey so far.’

William – like school deputy head Maika – is also from Dodomona Village, which is a two-day trek from Mougulu:

‘In Dodomona, there are many sick people and pregnant women who need healthcare. My plan is to study to become a nurse and community leader to help my people. If there was no MAF plane, my village would be totally lost in the jungle. MAF brings materials like roofing iron to build houses, schools, churches and health centres to support remote villages.’

A glimpse of another world

Last summer, as part of their Year 12 studies, the students got the opportunity to visit MAF’s base at Kagamuga Airport in Mount Hagen en route to Port Moresby – PNG’s capital on the south coast.

Mougulu Secondary’s 1st Year 12 tour MAF PNG with the Lloyds (credit: Mandy Glass)

The students had a behind-the-scenes tour of MAF at the busy airport, which connects people all over Papua New Guinea.

For some of them, it was their first time on a plane, their first visit to their country’s capital and their first glimpse of the sea. Otty was particularly excited:

‘The growth of the economy and the capital, and how people move around city buildings, schools and institutions is quite different from home. I’m excited to see all the big buildings, roads, parliament and the ocean – it’s my first time.’

It’s one thing to see a MAF aircraft land at your village to sustain life, and quite another to fly in a MAF plane and see how the whole operation works.

MAF’s Matt Painter addresses the students. (credit: Mandy Glass)

Proud and hopeful

On graduation day itself, Maika is particularly proud of how far his students and the school have come:

‘What a great day for us all – the day that we have been striving for. I’d like to thank God for making everything possible today. When I came here to teach in my first year, I didn’t know that we would make it this far or that we would graduate our own students in our own land. It’s been really exciting for me especially to graduate our grade 12 students in our own school.

‘I hope that the school will still run smoothly in future. I hope that we will produce lots of students out of Mougulu and that we’ll see them graduating, getting jobs and returning to serve their own communities. Previously, students struggled to attend school in other places. Now, they are very happy that we have a secondary school on home ground. This school is vital for people in this remote place. God is doing great things.’

Year 12 graduates gather around their celebratory cake (credit: Mandy Glass)

In February, some of the graduates started their next chapter. MAF flew Jeff, Fisu and Charles to Balimo in Western Province to begin their teacher training or nursing studies at Balimo College. The flight only took 50 minutes. Otty has since travelled to Goroka in Eastern Highlands Province where he is looking to study teacher training at Goroka University.

We wish every Year 12 graduate from Mougulu Secondary, the very best with their future careers.

Head Ian Lloyd sees off Jeff, Fisu & Charles (L-R) who head to Balimo (credit: S.Lloyd)

Learn more about Mougulu Secondary School in MAF’s first ever episode of the ‘Flying for Life’ podcast.