Hundreds of students in a remote Papua New Guinean school have been stuck repeating the same grade for eight years because teachers are not showing up to work, community leaders say.
Cedric Agurope is a former student of the state-run Jangit Primary School, located in PNG's East Sepik Province, but he did not make it past year three.
Now the 25-year-old can do little more than count and write his name.
"We didn't learn anything," he said.
Mr Agurope enrolled in year three in 2014 when he was 17 years old but was unable to continue studying when teachers stopped showing up to class.
New teachers were not brought in to replace them, so students spent the remainder of the year at home, often fishing, gardening or hunting for their families.
Mr Agurope re-enrolled in the same grade for five years in a row, but each time the same thing happened.
Despite being interested and engaged in learning, Mr Agurope was never able to move forward with his schooling, and in 2019 he dropped out.
The ABC sighted a letter sent in January to the provincial education body, East Sepik Division of Education, which was signed by eight community leaders including the village magistrate.
The letter raised concerns about teacher absenteeism at Jangit Primary School.
These concerns were not passed on to PNG's national teaching commission which said it had only recently become aware of the alleged behaviour at the school, following local media reports.
PNG's Teaching Service Commission, which employs public school teachers across the country, is now investigating the school and others in the area.
'Our children aren't learning'
Local councillor Max Okm, Mr Agurope's uncle, said the problems at the school started in 2014 when a new headmaster was appointed.
He claimed the headmaster and teachers would turn up at the start of each year and sign their contracts to work, but then would all disappear within weeks.
He alleged that some would get other jobs in a nearby town while still being paid to teach at Jangit Primary School.
"As a result, most of our children for the last eight years have not been in school," he said.
Eric Oriwau, a parent and the treasurer of the primary school, said his son and daughter were both unable to finish school due to staffing issues.
"Our children are interested in going to school, but the headmaster and teachers don't turn up. It's a big problem," Mr Oriwau said.
"We feel really disappointed that our children aren't learning."
Cr Okm also claimed the headmaster was the "first one to leave" each year and the other teachers would follow.
"We hardly have any teachers. When the head teacher goes, they all go," Mr Okm said.
Headmaster says teachers are scared away
The school's headmaster, Noah Agregum, paints a different picture, although he agreed that staff shortages had been a chronic issue and children were being held back.
He said violence and tribal fighting had forced teachers to flee the village each year since 2018 and not return until the next year out of fear for their safety.
"They leave the place and they have to go and get shelter. That's the normal way of doing things," he said.
Mr Agregum denied claims he was absent from the school and said when other teachers fled, he stayed in the village to keep the school running as best he could.
Prior to 2018, Mr Agregum said teachers were appointed to the school but some did not show up because the village was remote.
Those who did take up their positions usually left within a few months, Mr Agregum alleges, because they were not being paid properly and were concerned about being "poisoned" from sorcery.
The ABC has reached out to the East Sepik Division of Education for comment.
Beliefs relating to sorcery have long held in PNG culture, particularly in the highlands, and community members who are accused of witchcraft can be violently attacked, tortured, and killed.
Accusations of sorcery can be prompted by a sudden or unexplained death of someone.
If those grieving the death become convinced that the supernatural powers of someone among them was the cause, the suspected individual or individuals can be targeted.
Traditionally, the cultural belief did not involve violence but in the past 15 years instances of sorcery accusation related violence have increased and have spread to other villages around PNG.
Mr Agregum said some teachers remained on the school's payroll — administered by the East Sepik Division of Education — while they were absent, but did not comment on whether they did other work.
A local of Jangit village, Mr Agregum said he was the only staff member at the school for the first four years of his tenure.
"What I actually did during those first four years [was] engaged [a] few grade 10 volunteers who helped to teach elementary classes," he said.
He also said the school had been closed completely for 10 years between 2002 and 2012 due to a sorcery-related murder.
The ABC was unable to verify this.
Mr Agregum said he had reported the problem to the East Sepik Division of Education and welcomed an investigation into staffing issues at the school.
The ABC has obtained a copy of a report sent by Cr Okm to police in 2019 relating to ongoing violence in the village.
Despite this, Cr Okm and Mr Oriwau deny that safety concerns of the village had an impact on teachers.
"In terms of law and order, there's nothing wrong here," Mr Oriwau said.
The ABC was unable to reach Wewak Police Station, the closest station to East Sepik Province, for comment.
Teacher absenteeism 'widespread', commission says
Samson Wangihomie, who heads PNG's Teaching Service Commission, said he believed the issue of teacher absenteeism was widespread in PNG.
"Particularly in our rural and isolated schools," Mr Wangihomie said.
"The impact is massive … it denies the children their right to be educated."
Mr Wangihomie said he had received more than 20 reports of similar problems at other schools in PNG after the story was reported by local media last month.
"And that is not good enough. That's fraud."
Mr Wangihomie estimated more than 1.5 million kina ($590,000) in wages had been misused at Jangit Primary School since 2014.
He said the commission would work to recover lost wages and pursue further legal action if necessary.
"We're taking a tough stand on it," he said.
