Dede Sophie

Papua New Guinea Education Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra has singled out teacher’s attendance to class as an emerging issue that the Department needs to deal with urgently. Education Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra Dr. Kombra highlighted this when speaking at the opening of the National Teachers Rating Conference in Port Moresby yesterday. The Education Secretary says its a task that will need a collaborative effort from everyone within the education system. “In order for Papua New Guinea to address the issue or challenge of quality education – one area that we are all going to attend to is zero tolerance on teacher attendance. We must all address this. No one else will come and do it. Inspectors cannot say its PAs job. PA should not say its Inspectors job or teachers job. All of us have to play that role.” “If we can improve attendance, you will see the result of students actually learning in the classroom,” Dr. Kombra said. The National Teachers Rating Conference will end this Friday. NBC News /

In a bid to achieve a 100pc sustainable materials production of their tyres by 2050, Continental Tyres are looking into agricultural waste to source alternative filling materials, and weeds for substitution of natural rubber, writes Brian Byrne. Up to 100 different materials go into the construction of a modern tyre, with natural rubber being anything between 10pc and 40pc of the weight of the tyre. Agricultural waste materials like the ash of rice husks, and recycled plastic bottles, are among the materials being tested by the company, the latter can be turned into polyester yarn for tyre casings. Specially cultivated dandelions are being tested as alternatives to natural rubber. Along with these ideas, tyre makers are increasing the amount of recycle  activity to separate rubber, steel, and textile from old tyres, as well as the very important carbon black using a process called pyrolysis.