Education Challenges in PNG

The Government recognizes that Universal Basic Education (UBE) is critical for the future of PNG. In 2010 free Elementary Universal Education was implemented by the Department of Education providing all elementary aged children ( 6 – 9 years) free education for the first time. Free education for all primary schools is envisaged for 2015.

The PNG education system faces some major challenges, many of which have been identified in the Department of Education’s Universal Basic Education Plan (2010 -2019), that need to be tackled in order to achieve UBE. The PNG definition for UBE is “All children of school age must enroll in school, complete nine years of basic education and should have learnt skills, knowledge and values covered in the basic education curriculum”. The issues being faced are: poor access to elementary and primary schools, low student retention rates and the general low quality of education. Church run schools make a huge contribution to education in PNG with more than 50% of elementary and primary schools being administered by churches.

Especially in the rural areas schools are often hard to attend with no or poorly maintained infrastructure to reach them. There are insufficient schools and classrooms in both urban and rural areas to accommodate all school aged children and they are often in a deplorable state. Furthermore school fees are a major problem for most parents as most of the population lives from subsistence farming and have no cash income. It is estimated that less than 50% of elementary and primary aged children currently attend school. Retention rates are low with an estimated 60% completing Grade 6 (12 years of age). One of the major barriers is “school fees” and the fact that many parents cannot afford to send their children to school. Other reasons include; lack of adequate school infrastructure, lack of educational material and poor teacher attendance and attitude. Students examination results (Grade 8 Certificate Of Basic Education, 2006) showed students average scoring of 20% out of 100%. The reasons for the poor quality of learning lie in the fact that educational materials are lacking and the quality of the teachers is poor.

The overall aim of the UBE plan is to achieve the following: “By the end of 2019, 80% of all children enrolled in Grade 1 in 2011, being 80% of 6 year olds in 2011, will graduate from Grade 8, out of which 90% will meet the minimum standards of the UBE learning objectives”