One of Papua New Guinea's oldest schools, Kerevat National High School, in Rabaul in East New Britain, is being shut down for all of next year on health grounds.
The National Education Board says it has made the decision so maintenance work on the school's sewerage system can be undertaken.
The aim is also to repair other rundown facilities.
A health report has called for full maintenance of the sewage treatment plant to be carried out as soon as possible.
It also says that septic tanks need to be constructed for all residential buildings.
The chair of the National Education Board, the acting education secretary, Dr Joseph Pagelio, says this means there'll be no classes at Kerevat National High School in 2011.
He says staff will be redeployed while students will go to Maltech Secondary School, with classes to resume at Kerevat in 2012.
