DWU ADDS NEW STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Divine Word University has refurbished the derelict student accommodation at the former PNG Institute of Public Administration (PNGIPA) property along Coronation Drive in Madang town, thus adding more rooms for students at the university.
DWU President Fr Jan Czuba said last week that two of the refurbished dormitories at the Coronation Drive campus are already being used by public servants and other professionals studying at the Faculty of Flexible Learning (FFL).
Fr Czuba said this has allowed the University to relocate FFL students from the main campus to the Coronation Drive facility and release their accommodation to full-time students.
Dean of FFL, Fr Philip Smith said the Coronation Drive campus will provide accommodation space for 90 students once all the upgrade and reconstruction work is complete. He said the five existing dormitories will be refurbished and expanded into double floor accommodation units. Workmen are already adding a new floor to one of the dormitories.
Fr Smith said the university was using its own funds to carry out the work that will provide more accommodation for public servants and other working class people who take up courses at the FFL.
He said the female FFL students have already been moved to the Coronation Drive facilities and their dormitory on the main campus has been released to the fulltime students beginning this year.
The male counterparts will do likewise and release their two dormitories to the fulltime students once the refurbishment work at the Coronation Drive Campus is complete in the coming weeks.
Fr Smith said at present workmen are expanding the existing dormitory into a double floor accommodation where the ground floor will offer twin share rooms and the top floor will be for those students opting for single accommodation at an additional cost.
Both Fr Czuba and Fr Smith said as a national university, DWU has a moral duty to offer as many spaces for study to the growing numbers of interested students each year and this continues to challenge the university to provide services such as accommodation.
They thanked former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta and current Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for allowing the DWU to make use of the derelict PNGIPA property and provide educational opportunities to public servants and other working class people who take up courses at the university.
