International Day of the Girl Child - Improving Literacy across the nation for both girls and boys

Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) today celebrated International Day of the Girl Child with PNG Air to thank the airline for their vital contribution to literacy across the country. The Children welcomed PNG Air Chief Commercial Officer, Simon Pitt, and Marketing and Media Coordinator, Dalai Thomas with flying paper planes to the organization’s 6 Mile Library Learning Centre.

The children enrolled at the centre read ‘When I Grow Up, I want to be a Pilot’ produced with PNG Air in 2021 together with the PNG Air Staff and were encouraged about the importance of having young girls aspire to having professional roles such as a Pilot, which are normally male dominated.

From June 2021 to June 2023, PNG Air has assisted BbP by transporting the organizations’ popular School Library Kits by air to 342 schools in all provinces serviced by the airline.  This represents several tons of cargo every month and an amazing total of 171,766 books.

Most school libraries across the country are in great need of books and teaching resources and it is only thanks to the partnership PNG Air, that BbP can provide donations of books to such a high number of schools in both rural and remote parts of the country.

BbP Executive Officer, Leanne Resson said: “Being able to provide students with the right tools for their education is vital to improve education outcomes in the country. Restoring school libraries will help entire school communities to improve education outcomes and support the teachers with resources for the classroom. We are grateful for PNG Air’s long-term support which allows us to restore school libraries across the country. A true community service.”