Education in Papua New Guinea

More children in school

While school enrolments are on the increase, Papua New Guinea is struggling to educate an estimated 2 million elementary and primary aged children.

Key challenges

Over 500,000 children aged 6-12 do not go to school.
It’s estimated half the adult population cannot read or write.
More boys than girls go to school and complete basic education.
More classrooms are needed.
Teachers need more training.
Management and financing from a national to school level needs strengthening

What is being done

Australia and Papua New Guinea are working together to address these challenges through an education schedule to the Partnership for Development. The Partnership sets out mutually-agreed priorities towards reducing poverty and increasing the quality of life for all Papua New Guineans.

Prime Ministers Michael Somare and Kevin Rudd have committed to increasing PNG’s basic education net enrolment rate from 53 per cent in 2007, to 70 per cent in 2015, which amounts to an additional 300,000 children in school.

The Governments of Australian and PNG have jointly released the findings of the PNG Universities Review that was led by Sir Rabbie Namaliu and Professor Ross Garnaut.

Key areas of Australian support

Subsidies to schools, to remove school fees for the first three grades of elementary.
Classrooms, teacher houses and other school buildings to improve access to schools.
Materials including textbooks to improve the quality of education.
Teacher education to improve the quality of teaching.

Results

In recent years, significant progress has been made in the enrolment and retention of primary and elementary students.

The net basic education enrolment rate has increased from 52 per cent in 2007 to 63 per cent in 2009.
School completion rate has increased from 45 per cent of enrolled students completing grade 8 in 2007 to 56 per cent in 2009.

Specific achievements made through Australian assistance in 2009 include:

construction of 176 double classrooms, 47 teacher houses and 13 other buildings such as library, administration, toilets and fencing in 229 schools
maintenance grants to 189 schools for small rehabilitation works
procurement of 539 000 primary school textbooks delivered in the first half of 2010
printing and distribution of 180,000 HIV/AIDS booklets to schools and provinces
in-service teacher training to 33,000 teachers including the production of training manuals
61 per cent of schools have adopted the School Learning Improvement Plan model to improve school management
training of Board of Management teams including monitoring and supervision to 2284 primary and 225 elementary schools
better information management systems including Department of Education website.

Photo of male teacher pointing at a blackboard in a classroom

Textbook distribution

Increasing the enrolment rate of children in primary school is about more than just increasing student numbers. Teachers need to be trained, curricula designed and classrooms and resources sourced and maintained.

At the start of 2010, twenty shipping containers holding 539,000 primary school textbooks arrived in Port Moresby and Lae to be distributed to schools nationally.

Books which focus on core subjects of maths, science and language for grades 6, 7 and 8, were selected by PNG Department of Education primary curriculum officers and funded by the Australian Government. Each primary and community school in the country and eight teacher training colleges received a set of 159 books with AusAID supporting the National Department of Education to distribute books to schools across PNG. The texts are especially important for the remote schools where it is difficult to place resources.

Last reviewed: 12 October, 2011