20/02/2024
Very good speech 🇵🇬💯❤️
TALASEA HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION MESSAGE FROM BAKOVI KABU TAKU DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION INC
Read By Eugene George Mena during last year's Graduation.
It always comes with great honour to stand before the future of Bakovi tribe and give a speech that is not derived from foreign ideology, but native, from the heart and the soul of the sons of this land. Without further or due, I will start my speech by drawing our attention back to the this very institution motto: “Excellence in Education”, in Latin they say, “In erudition excellentia”; and in our Bakovi language we say: “education ani mademu”. So how many of us here really understand this motto? Or how many past and present students are now living by this motto? Find out yourself and if none, listen carefully to my speech and make this motto your mantra because it is a very unique one. In life there are so many mottos, goals, objectives, aims and all these points us to an outcome that we ought to achieve. Excellence in education is a very good school motto because if you recite it every day it becomes your mantra and eventually it become part of you. Here is what Excellence in education base on my view: Excellence in Education is, and I believe it is a concept that goes beyond good grades and academic performance. Excellence in education encompasses a holistic approach to learning, encompassing both academic and personal growth.
Excellence in education is about fostering a passion for lifelong learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. It is about nurturing creativity, curiosity, and the ability to adapt to an ever-changing world. It involves developing strong communication skills, empathy, and cultural awareness, as well as a sense of social responsibility and ethical leadership.
True excellence in education is not only measured by what you have learned in the classroom this past few months, but also by how you apply that knowledge to make a positive impact in the community, LLG, District, Province, Country and world. It is about embracing diversity, embracing challenges, and persevering in the face of adversity. It is about being a lifelong learner, continuously seeking opportunities for growth and self-improvement.
As you move forward from this institution, I urge you to carry the spirit of excellence with you in all your endeavours. Embrace every opportunity to learn, to grow, and to make a difference. Remember that excellence is not a destination, but a journey—a journey that you are now fully equipped to embark upon.
For you all who are graduating today, do not hold your grades against you and let it define who you are or what you are capable of. The grades you get from all your assessment is what the system says and not your true potential. Our system at this stage only tests our mental capacity to memorized, it does not test our skills/talents. Therefore, be encouraged and reminded that, the things you learnt from your hard-working teachers here is 50 percent from other skills and knowledge you will gain from life. I want to stress again that many of the lessons you were taught in this institution are not everything you ought to learn. Learning is a process that has no ending. Even I am still learning only by giving this speech. If someone comes and tell you that your learning ends here, that person is a fool, and rule number one is don’t listen to fools because they have narrow vision to life.
Furthermore, I want to urge everyone sitting here to take whatever your teachers had taught you and try use it in your community. You were taught how to write business letters, calculate numbers, solve problems and communicate, if you ask me or any businessman, we’ll tell you that these are the very basic things to start a small business. Your brains are now consumed and open to extra knowledge and skills you never had 5 years ago; hence this is the beauty of education. Now, as per the school’s motto, you have to be excellent in carrying forward the education you got in Talasea Highschool. As a product of this Institution, always live by your Motto. Systematically we can say, Education will end for few of you here, but that does not mean learning or I like to say schooling ends, my fellow students, there are still many things not discovered in this Universe, therefore, do not stop schooling, read a lot, be curious and be brave to learn new things every day.
Moreover, before I end my speech, I want add a few points taken from our chairmans post on Facebook, Bakovi Kabu Taku community group. Chairman Mr. Jonathan Bagetu Tenge said and I quote: Education must be viewed or perceived as a responsibility. As parents, you should always ask your kids, what are his or her dreams; if he/she respond or if you see his interest in something like for example: being a Fisherman; or a Hunter; or a gardener; or welfare caregiver; or a craftsman; or a handyman; or a skilled warrior. Do not stand on their neck too much and force them to the education system because it will kill that dream and burry it. These aforementioned skills can be taught in the village. Let’s encourage and support kids to our education system if we see their dream is to be in professions like: Engineers, Pilot, Doctors, Lawyers, economist, Teachers, Nurses, Accountants, and etc., This does not mean we are against education for everyone, Education is important and it’s a responsibility were you individually have to part take in if you want it to improve you and your generation.
The important point here is that those inherent skills that our ancestors possessed and inheritably passed down to us as our way of life prior to be introduced with education is as important as whatever skills you were taught these past 10 years of your life going to school. NEVER FORGET THAT! end quote.
What Chairman Mr Tenge meant in his statement is that, many of you here in this group have inherit the skills of our ancestors and you by nature are for example, great fisherman. You know the pros and cons of going to sea in search for fish. That is a skill that a Pilot do not have. Now that you graduated from this institution, you gained the skills to do marketing and number calculation. Putting together the natural skills you have in fishing. You can start a fishing business where you go fishing and then sale it to the majority of us who don’t know how to fish but can eat fish better than anyone. Or even start a YouTube channel and earn money just by showing the world how a Bakovi fish in his remote and loving home. The beautiful thing is the fish are free, battery & touch are cheap, your parents/relatives have a fishing gun you can borrow and you are the only skilful labour, zero initial cost or tax. With the skills you learnt in Talasea high school like to add, subtract, percentage calculation, etc., you can calculate how much you will be earned, tell the different types of fish you caught and put the prices accordingly and even negotiate with consumers. Importantly you can read and write unlike our ancestors in the past; that student is Excellence in Education. The same apply to the skills of Hunting and etc... For those who want to be warriors, since we’re in the modern world, you can join a boxing club or taekwondo class and see how naturally you will rise to the top as a decorated sportsman. You cannot do such 5 years ago, but today you can just by putting what you learnt here and your past 10 years of education into real use.
Finally, I want to end by commending the parents of all these students sitting here, you have done great by never stop supporting your child. Like Mr Tenge said: education is a responsibility and it is your responsibility to up skill your kids and see them flourish first before anyone else. None of these students were brought to this earth by his\her own will, you brought them in and it is your responsibility to make sure before they become an adult, you taught them well to carry themselves when they leave you. Just like a mother bird that teaches their baby birds to fly and find food and when the time comes for them to leave the nest, they go and never return nor fail to survive out in the wild. The same applies to you as parents, you have to train and continuously support your babies in their dreams. I want to humbly encourage you the parents of these grandaunts to love and understand these kids and accept whatever results they got in their certificates and like a true parent, sit with them and have a matured one to one discussion instead of ignoring or scolding them because some system failed them. Like I stated hereinbefore, the results you see on their certificates is not a definition of who your child is, find their true strength, talents and passion and push them to achieve it. We have TVET there to upskills everyone, FODE or Flexible, Open, Distance, Education is there. Our Association is here to assist as well to find your kids partway to enhance his skills. That if, you still want him/her to continue with education, however, the skills gained here in this very institution is enough to create a multi-millionaire company using the vast resources God has blessed us with. To those students who will be graduating with flying colours, keep it up and never lower that head, let it stay upright and show the world what Bakovi tribe is and capable of achieving in this changing world.
Congratulations, graduands, and may you continue to embody excellence in all that you do.
God bless Bakovi Tribe!
Ani valemu ge tabuli ne teu naparava vakaroro.
BAKOVI KABU TAKU DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION INC.
President.........................
Michael Tuka
Vice President.........................
Clarissa Gorea
Secretary........................
Kevin Tangole
Treasurer...........................
Eugene Mena
Chairman..........................
Jonathan Tege
