Intsi community praised for K50,000 school project

Intsi Primary School in Umi, Morobe, opened a new classroom to complement its ongoing infrastructure development through community initiative *(Image: NBC News)*

Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Markham MP Koni Iguan has commended the people of Intsi in the Umi local level government [LLG] of Morobe for taking ownership of education through community-driven development.

He made the remarks during the official opening of a new 5-in-1 double classroom and administration building at Intsi Primary School in Ward 6 last week.

The project, valued at K50,000, was funded through a collaborative effort between the local community and district authorities.

Iguan congratulated the school and the surrounding community for their self-reliance, noting that they achieved a significant milestone despite receiving limited initial state support.

"I am here to congratulate you for your achievement," Iguan said. "Although you were given limited assistance, you managed to achieve something truly remarkable.

"This building may only be cement and roofing iron, but it will produce doctors, pilots, politicians, and engineers."

Markham MP Koni Iguan doing the ribbon cutting for the new classroom *(Image: NBC News)*

Iguan committed a further K50,000 from the District Development Authority [DDA] to assist Intsi Primary School with its ongoing infrastructure rollout. He assured the school administration that his office would continue to work closely with them.

Intsi Primary School Teacher-in-Charge Wayne Sibiyo explained that the infrastructure was made possible by pooling together various revenue streams after realizing the school's urgent needs.

Funding sources included the tuition fee free [TFF] allocations, parental infrastructure support fees [project fees], and parents and citizens [P&C] fundraising drives. The Markham DDA board supported the initial construction with a K10,000 component.

"It is a community effort in building this infrastructure," Sibiyo said. "The support from the DDA, plus TFF, P&C fundraising, and Parental Infrastructure Support Fees, enabled us to build this building."

Sibiyo added that through the same community mobilization and strict budgeting, the school was also able to construct four new staff houses to accommodate teachers on-site.