Education
From The Report: Papua New Guinea 2012
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Decades of underinvestment in PNG’s education sector have led to declining standards: literacy rates had reportedly dropped to as low as 15-25% by 2011, and state spending on universities has fallen tenfold since independence. New state revenues, however, have many optimistic that these trends will be reversed. In 2009, the government abolished school fees for grade 1-10, which has increased retention rates. Additionally, the number of teachers more than doubled from 2003 to 2010, and the Department of Education plans to add more. Still, PNG will need major, sustained investment in its education system if it hopes to recover from years of neglect.

This section contains an interview with David Arore, Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (RST).

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Raising standards: Improvement agenda focuses on reviving the sector
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Expected to benefit dramatically from rapidly rising government revenues, the education sector is experiencing a number of new developments as the state works to improve enrolment rates and the quality of instruction at the country’s schools and universities. Indeed, education is a cornerstone of Vision 2050, Papua New Guinea’s overarching long-term economic development plan. Over the coming decade the state aims to improve access to public education for the large rural population, upgrade…

Analysis

Building up: Improving access to schools and rehabilitating existing facilities
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Boosting access to education and its facilities in PNG’s remote rural communities is an ongoing challenge. Roughly 85% of the population resides outside of urban centres, many in small villages and hard-to-reach areas. PNG’s notoriously rough terrain and underdeveloped transport networks mean that many communities do not have easy access to schools and related facilities. According to a World Bank report released in March 2011, the national enrolment rate for grades 1-6 is around 45%, due…

Interview

OBG talks to David Arore, Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (RST)
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Intrerview: David Arore What is the strategic direction of human resources development in Papua New Guinea? DAVID ARORE: The education department is divided into two separate divisions – basic and higher education. At the higher education level our strategy is geared towards empowering our students to find a place in the country’s labour market, especially within the booming petroleum and mining sectors. Not long ago we sent our first batch of 100 students to Australia specifically to learn trade skills in courses ranging from six months to two years at a cost of PGK5m ($2.38m). The courses focus specifically on trade, technical and vocational…

Analysis

Gender gap: Working to address disparities in academic achievement
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Improving gender ratios in the national education system is of prime concern in PNG, where male students generally outperform their female counterparts in most areas. Girls tend to drop out of school on average two years before boys; and in some provinces illiteracy rates are nearly twice as high among female adults as among males. Thus, reducing gender disparity in education is a central feature of the government’s ongoing development plans for the sector. Additionally, initiatives by the…