The Flexible, Open and Distance Education (FODE) program is not only seen as a “second chance”, but a pathway to entering the tertiary level or completing high school, says an official.
FODE and Inclusive Education first assistance secretary Andrew Angobe said this during Central province’s first FODE graduation in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
Angobe said FODE had provided an alternative education pathway for students who had been left out from the mainstream school system for one reason or another and was open to anyone who wished to complete their high school education and attain a certificate and enter tertiary institutions.
He said FODE was a flexible program that allowed an adult student to be able to work and at the same time study.
With FODE, someone can be doing marketing and learning at the same time, someone can be working and learning too.
With flexibility, it also teaches students to be self-disciplined and conscious of their time management skills.
It gives an opportunity for everyone to be educated, capturing the Government’s policy on leaving no one behind.
Angobe
Angobe said FODE students did the same examinations as secondary and high school students and were eligible for selection to colleges and universities.
Central’s FODE program graduated 559 students on Tuesday; 193 of them graduated as full correspondence students while 336 graduated as upgraders for grades eight, 10 and 12.
Meanwhile, Angobe urged other FODE students to be disciplines and committed to their studies so that they could achieve the marks required to graduate with a certificate and advance to the next level of education.
He added that Central FODE would establish a boarding school at Mt Diamond outside Port Moresby next year.