Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Tough issues for PNG education still unresolved

OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP

RECENT REPORTS THAT STUDENTS in some areas of Papua New Guinea are crossing into Indonesia for lessons provided a stark reminder of the challenges the PNG government faces in its bid to improve the education system.

Reforming PNG’s education sector is proving to be far from straightforward, with a controversial and heavily criticised teaching curriculum introduced in 2007 now set to be scrapped.

In March, a former PNG defence attaché to Jakarta, Colonel Tokam Kanene, told local newspaper The National that students from South Fly, Western, had been attending a school on the Indonesian side of the border since 2005.

We need a university: teacher’s call to Bougainville

LEONARD FONG ROKA

SECTION 25 OF BOUGAINVILLE CONSTITUTION concerns a skilled workforce and it plainly reads: ‘In recognition of the shortage of the trained personnel who will be needed to develop Bougainville and implement autonomy, the Autonomous Bougainville Government shall encourage human resource development’.

This is something of a slap in the face for young trainee teacher, Delphine Piruke of Madang Teachers College. Ever since entering Madang, she has never felt the presence of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG).

Melanesian women share peace experiences

SOLOMON STAR (Honiara)

WOMEN PEACE-BUILDING LEADERSHIP program participants from West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Bougainville and Solomon Islands have been given a rare glimpse into the work of two leading women’s advocacy organisations.

The nine participants, who are currently awaiting their departure to the Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia USA, visited the Femlink Pacific and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement in Suva as part of an orientation program organised by the Pacific Centre for Peace-building.

Scots College partners with W Province students

OK TEDI MINING

SIX STUDENTS AND TWO STAFF members from The Scots College, Sydney, visiting schools in and around Tabubil in the Western Province, yesterday joined the local community in a commemorative Anzac Day service as part of a five-day trip hosted by Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML).

The trip follows the establishment of the first secondary school in Tabubil (Year 12) in February by OTML and its major shareholder, the PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited.

“OTML is committed to creating opportunities for young Papua New Guineans and we believe that grassroots education and cross-cultural awareness are critical keys to any country’s long-term prosperity,” said Nigel Parker, managing director and CEO of OTML.

Jack Doonar – Rabaul’s wild colonial headmaster

BARBARA SHORT

JOHN CHARLES (JACK) DOONAR was born in Ipswich in 1913 and trained as a teacher at Brisbane Teachers’ College, where GT Roscoe, a future Director of Education in the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea, was on the staff.

Jack taught in Queensland from 1932-36 and in March 1937 was loaned to TPNG by Queensland and made head teacher of the European school in Rabaul until December 1938.

His students had outstanding success in the Queensland Scholarship Examination. He was teaching in Rabaul during the eruption of Tavurvur volcano in 1937.

In 1939 he was transferred to the European School in Wau, and was there when, on 22 January 1940, he enlisted for the war effort. He joined an Anti-Tank Regiment and embarked for the Middle East in May 1940, serving in Crete and North Africa. He returned in August 1942.

Moses Summa, goal achieved, walks above the clouds

LEONARD FONG ROKA | Supported by the Jeff Febi Writing Fellowship

ON THE INSIDE COVER of Moses Summa’s notebook is the line: The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be—Horace Bushnell.

I read these words as I sat alongside him, eager to find out a little more about Bougainvillean Moses Summa, who was sweating with joy.

On 3 March, Divine Word University (DWU) held its 31st graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students from around Papua New Guinea and a few from the Solomon Islands.

After the ceremony, fellow Bougainvilleans marched into my room where I accommodated them, their joy at graduating burning as magnesium.

Condition critical: PNG health training is in the ICU

PAULUS RIPA

THE CURRENT STATE of health personnel training in Papua New Guinea is appalling.

We have known for at least a decade that we would be running into a shortage of health workers (see recent article in PNG Attitude here).

Millions of kina have been spent in the last five years or more on meetings and workshops by the Health Department on this issue, and there is still no official directive.

The minister has expressed concern and announced recently that a national policy will be released soon.

The report in PNG Attitude had at least one misleading comment. We are led to believe that it has only been due to the release of Australian funding that midwives will be graduating this year. This is a blatant untruth.

Enoch Sasieh: a great ambassador for his university

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND

USQ SPRINGFIELD INTERNATIONAL STUDENT Enoch Sasieh loves his university.

He loves it so much in fact; he has become a USQ voluntary ambassador when visiting his Papua New Guinean home and has already encouraged two students to enroll in 2013.

As a third year Bachelor of Accounting and Sustainable Business student, Enoch enjoys speaking to prospective students about his experiences studying at USQ and encourages them to consider the university as an option in the future.

Enoch, who studied a Diploma of Accounting in PNG said he initially chose to study at USQ as his application was processed so efficiently by the university.

“I’d heard about USQ through my brother who was studying at the Toowoomba campus,” Enoch said.

Bernard Lomiki's unquenchable thirst for education

LEONARD FONG ROKA

IN THE MIDST OF HUNDREDS of Papua New Guineans, Bernard Lomiki was one of a tiniest fraction of Bougainvilleans to graduate from Divine Word University’s main campus on 3 March under Madang's merciful sun.

The Siwai man from Hiruhiru village flew back home, to Bougainville with jubilant heart and a Diploma in Health Services Management that he attained through the Faculty of Flexible Learning. A

As a father, he had something positive to bring home to his five children and a supportive wife.

Born in 1964, Bernard Lomiki did not go through the formal education system of the classrooms. He made his way through the expensive College of Distance Education, passing in 1986 with a mere letter of attainment and not a certificate.

The Bougainville war for independence engulfed this South Bougainvillean in an air of nothingness. But the later stability created by the New Zealand peace effort brought him hope of employment in the unpredictable post-conflict Bougainvillean environment.

O’Neill encourages graduates to serve their country

DIVINE WORD UNIVERSITY

PRIME MINISTER PETER O’NEILL has told graduating students from Divine Word University that Papua New Guinea needs them for its development.

Mr O’Neill was speaking as the guest of honour at DWU’s 31st graduation ceremony at the Madang campus earlier this month.

He said members of parliament and public servants alone cannot develop the country and needed all citizens, including fresh university graduates to contribute.

“I need, and our government and our nation, need your support and involvement,” the prime minister told the graduating class.

Déjà vu revisited: Factor X and another deportation

ALBERT SCHRAM

FOR THE SECOND TIME in a month, I was deported from Papua New Guinea on Saturday. It was like watching the same movie twice.

Not the same excitement, but a gloomy certainty about the ending, In this case not a happy one.

I felt sad for all those that had worked so hard to avoid this, and I felt disappointed. My exile has taken a lot out of me and my family, and we were all hoping it would end happily.

Again I was not given a reason for refusal of entry, just that there was "a referral".

I was not issued any document, nor was any remark made about my current visa or why it is not adequate. I was simply turned away.

Registrar charged with conspiracy, misappropriation

EDUCATION NEWS PNG

THE FORMER REGISTRAR of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) has been charged by Lae police on allegations of conspiracy and misappropriation of monies belong to the university.

Allen Sako, 51, of Garawaria village in the Bululo district of Morobe Province was charged with one count of misappropriation and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the state.

He is the third person to be charged in this case after former head of the electrical engineering department Professor Narayan Gehlot and bursar Jimmy Imbok. Sako had been implicated, along with others, in the ongoing fraud case against Gehlot.

According to The National, Sako voluntarily went to the Lae Fraud Squad office, where he was interviewed and charged. He is currently out on K500 bail and is due to appear before the Lae Committal Court tomorrow. More people are to be questioned in relation to the fraud and more arrests are expected.

Unitech vice-chancellor, Dr Albert Schram, continues this quest to be able to return to PNG after a backlash against his investigation into malpractice and inefficiency at the university resulted in his unexplained deportation.

He wrote of his ordeal in PNG Attitude last month.

School power: This is the century of educated brains

LEONARD FONG ROKA | Supported by the Jeff Febi Writing Fellowship

LAST DECEMBER I was invited to be a guest speaker at the end-of-year ceremonies at two primary schools, Darenai and Oune, here in the Panguna District.

I chose Oune because it is here that the Bougainville struggle for independence in the 1960s began; the precedent was set here.

People claim that the Panguna people are responsible for the conflict on Bougainville. But the Panguna man does not hesitate to state that it is the Oune people to the west of Panguna who began the conflict long time ago.

They started it through a little organisation called the Oune Mumungsina, that later had the Napidakoe Navitu as its umbrella body.

In my talk, I ran through this history of Oune. The crowd was silent because, despite the fact that they were historically responsible for leading the anti-CRA and later anti-PNG demonstrations in Panguna and Arawa, the current generation had no idea what their elders had done before they went into their graves.

Deported! The mysterious story of PNG & Dr Schram

ALBERT SCHRAM

ON 8 FEBRUARY THIS YEAR, I was deported from Papua New Guinea to Australia.

I’d been to Singapore for a brief medical visit and, upon returning to Port Moresby, I was refused entry and put on a plane to Brisbane.

I was given no chance to say goodbye to my wife or speak to my lawyer and was given no valid reason for my deportation. I was threatened with force if I refused to leave.

Through official channels, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra (I am a Dutch national) has asked for an explanation, so far to no avail.

It was a bizarre series of events for me in my role of Vice-Chancellor of the PNG University of Technology (Unitech).

Here’s the story so far as I know it.

Last year Unitech’s former Pro-Chancellor, Ralph Saulep, alleged that, upon my appointment as Vice-Chancellor in January 2012, I had been ‘less than truthful’ about my academic qualifications.

At the time, I responded that this was a baseless allegation and demonstrably false.

Education in PNG: horror-child of Australian left ideology

JOHN FOWKE

AUSTRALIA'S CARDINAL MISTAKE in Papua New Guinea was to allow a Westminster-modelled, party-based system of political representation to arise in a profoundly tribal, profoundly egalitarian, landowning, subsistence society.

It proved to be a white elephant which would never pull a cart or lift a log.

This unguided policy-free stance, allowing party-based politics to rise, provided for the empowerment of today's selfish and cynical hegemonic elite in all its mishmash of conflict-beset coalitions.

This oversight was compounded by another factor. The great grey elephant was the lack of a well-educated, disciplined and idealistic elite of a size sufficient to have a deep impact upon the unworldly and unsophisticated emerging society.

Formal western schooling came late to PNG. As the government system of education grew from almost nothing in the late forties to the foundation of UPNG and Unitech less than two decades later, the Aussie political leadership quietly decided that "black mastas" should never arise, and so mediocrity and "lefty-luvvy-ideology" became the guiding theme in educational and social development.

To hell with an informed, ethical, history-and-economics-savvy leadership during the most important decades of PNG's hasty transformation from tribal horde to nation state. The principle of excellence was not permitted in a society traditionally free of the ills of a class-system just as the pursuit ofexcellence was anathema to all dinky-di Aussies.

As with most colonial powers, Australia exhibited a supine even welcoming attitude to the flood of lefty political correctness which swirled like an Alpine fog behind UN visiting missions in the sixties and thereafter.

Any pretence to excellence of outcome in education was sacrificed to the sibilant susurrations of fluttering left wings.

It is no accident that names like Kidu, Rarua, Taureka, Siaguru, Namaliu, Nombri, Ainui and others all bring memories of balanced, urbane, highly-educated, personable and effective professionals; people of dignity and purpose. People who served the nation with distinction and honesty.

But it was not even a generation. Because of Aussie policy it was just a flash in the pan. So what happened to replace this cadre of leaders?

The output of a largely undistinguished caste of ideology-driven foreign educationists foisted upon a naive PNG in the formative years of tertiary education was unable to provide a supply of focussed, disciplined, ethical leaders in the same model.

Within its enclosed, self-protective academic community, this pod of politically correct pedagogues live on today, largely invisible and perennially unable to put the stamp of quality upon its product.

In this way, by closing the gate to a purposely socially-engineered class of properly educated, open-minded and pragmatic non-tribal Melanesian leaders, Australia closed off the only avenue whereby young people might see and aim for ethical, socially-positive and creative careers in politics and administration.

Social engineering didn't go away. It was put into reverse. And look at the result.

Better education will tackle social issues in PNG

JOE WASIA | Supported by the Bob Cleland Writing Fellowship

DO WE HAVE ANY COHERENT plans and strategies to combat tribal fights and other violent social unrest which are too common in Papua New Guinea?

I believe education would be a greatest tool to solve these issues in our country - and most of our people are really lacking an education.

The vast majority of Papua New Guineans, more than 70%, still live in rural areas where there is no proper education. As a result, we have an uneducated population with many social issues.

Tribal fights, as mentioned by Francis Nii in a recent article and similar social issues we discuss and read about at PNG Attitude and other media, are very common in much of PNG society where there is no proper education, health and other basic infrastructure.

Successive governments have neglected this vast majority, their focus diverted to the main centres of the country. And that was really unfair for the people.

Rural societies need support from the responsible authorities. The national, provincial and local level governments, NGOs, business houses, international agencies and organisations must support students and educated youths to conduct awareness in rural villages on pressing issues such as warfare, elections, HIV/AIDS, education, global warming, etc.

This will bring some change to community, provinces and country. The students and youths will be engaged so they can be advocates for social peace and order. As we know, young people have the potential to do harm or good and that is where a change for the better needs to start.

Government must invest more in human resource development. Establish schools, subsidise schooling, get more school age kids enrolled and provide more employment opportunities for the growing population.

I know education can play a greater role in maintaining peace and order in the societies throughout the country. Being educated doesn’t mean a bachelor’s degree; it means you do things well and think better than others. And that’s where change starts.

As a member of the educated elite in my society, I know I would not tolerate tribal fights or other social disorder in my society nor support perpetrators in any way.

I know that education has shaped the way I think and act. Education has changed me to be who I’m and given me a bright future. That's how it helps keep societies in order when change starts from an individual through education.

We can deploy armed security, police and even defence force to tribal areas to contain fights and social unrest but they will never solve the problem. Trouble will still erupt because people are uneducated.

As the great Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Yes, we can change Papua New Guinea through education.

Unitech vice-chancellor in dark about deportation

KEITH JACKSON

IN AN EXTRAORDINARY incident, PNG University of Technology vice-chancellor, Dr Albert Schram, was detained and forcefully loaded aboard Air Niugini flight PX5 to Brisbane soon after arriving at Jackson’s Airport from Singapore earlier this month. 

Last year, Dr Schram had been suspended from his Unitech post, an act he says was unlawful.

“Contrary to what some have said, I have never been legally dismissed as vice-chancellor. So why was I deported? No answer“, Schram wrote on his Twitter account.

In January, prime minister Peter O’Neill said that both the university’s council under chancellor Philip Stagg and Schram and had been suspended by Cabinet for two months pending an investigation into Unitech’s administration.

Last year some of Schram’s opponents at the university had raised questions over his credentials.

“I've asked my embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra to ask for a reason, because I am still in the dark," said Dr Schram, a Dutch national.

The PNG government denied that Dr Schram had been deported, preferring the explanation that he simply hadn’t been allowed into the country.

Corney was right: PNG drops outcome-based curriculum

Open Equal Free | Education Development Blog

IN RESPONSE TO LOW ACADEMIC RATES, the Papua New Guinea government has decided to scrap the outcome-based education (OBE) system and return to the more traditional objective-based curriculum.

[Anti-OBE campaigner, Corney K Alone (pictured), got it right four years ago: PNG did not have the educational resource base to support such a radical innovation.]

The OBE system is designed to facilitate self-learning approaches. Schools are responsible for setting relevant, criterion-based outcomes, where assessment focuses on individual skills and performance.

In the traditional system, learning is based relatively on educational ‘inputs’ (i.e. teaching styles, textbooks, number of hours in school), in which students are ranked in comparison to one another.

Although OBE sounds more appealing, it appears to be difficult to implement effectively. For instance, Western Australia abandoned its OBE curriculum in 2007 after being criticised for designing ‘vague’ objectives that were too difficult to measure.

South Africa similarly dropped its use of the OBE system back in mid-2010.

PNG educational experts believe the real problem arises from a lack of specialised resources, such as teacher-written workbooks and lesson plans that support the use of the OBE curriculum.

“A lot of teachers are teaching the curriculum as they would in the old system. We have to provide full in-service kits that can provide cost-effective teacher training or in-service packages for all teachers,” said educator Michael John Uglo.

Some argue that the OBE curriculum has simply taken too long to develop. Unfortunately, the process of switching curriculum strategies now may take another two to three years to complete

See also: ‘Education: Oppression before enslavement’, PNG Attitude, 9 August, 2010 and ‘Corney steps up pressure in schools debate’, PNG Attitude, 11 September 2010

Old International Training Institute now on Facebook

KEITH JACKSON

PNG ATTITUDE PAYS TRIBUTE to the former Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) in various ways, including the retention of the name in our internet address.

A little remembered aspect of ASOPA, which ended its illustrious life in 1973, was that it morphed into another great learning institution, the International Training Institute (ITI).

But whereas ASOPA had trained and orientated young Australian professionals to work in the former Territory of Papua New Guinea, when it transitioned into ITI it made a 180 degree turn.

Instead of being a colonial training establishment, ITI brought together middle managers from countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to improve their management skills and give them a leg up.

It flourished for 15 years until 1987 until being cruelly put down by what is now AusAID for reasons that remain obscure.

ITI was a great idea that has never been adequately replaced in Australia.

Now a Facebook page has been developed by Ingrid (Hallein) Jackson (pictured) who lectured in human resources management at ITI from 1981-86.

Ingrid would like to hear from any people who participated in the wonderful ITI project as staff or fellows (students). You can go to the Facebook page or email her here.

“ITI was primarily a centre for sharing knowledge and apply knowledge to real problems,” Ingrid said.

“It did not base its programs on the premise that its staff of specialists knew all the answers.

“Its development philosophy stemmed from the belief that if experienced and well-motivated people from a variety of backgrounds worked together in a systematic way then, collectively, they could develop successful approaches to even the most formidable problems.”

Chronic underfunding holds back PNG education

The ABC’s GERALDINE COUTTS interviews Dr Scott McWilliam from the State, Society & Governance in Melanesia program at the Australian National University

MACWILLIAM: The big problem in PNG is for about 20-odd years not enough resources have been put into education at any level at all. Even if you put more and more students into the schools and you have very limited resources, all that happens is that standards get lower and lower. So you could take the more students in, but they wouldn't necessarily get a better education.

One of the things that's happened internationally in recent years is that they've given up counting the number of years people are at school, and they've looked at outcomes when they finish schooling, for instance are they literate. So the government is in a bind really, they have to try to catch up 25 years of neglect of education, and it's very hard to do that when there are population increases coming through.

COUTTS: What are your thoughts then on the recent reports that six-thousand primary school children may be missing out on school in PNG? Why are so many missing out or why could so many be missing out?

MACWILLIAM: Well in some ways in PNG geography and so forth makes it very difficult to cover the education system. You've got lots of students have very difficult terrain and so forth to cover to get to school, so it's a whole of government question; roads, safety, a whole stack of things, but it's also the case that there simply has not been much attention paid to schooling.

So I'm not surprised at all that there is that number. In fact I would probably think that given the inability to get accurate statistics in PNG in many areas, it's probably even more than that.

COUTTS: Is part of it also, they talk about free education, but for families that struggle to educate their kids, there's still a lot of costs on top of the school fees. Is that also an issue?

MACWILLIAM: Certainly and lots of families go into debt, very substantial debt. I've done some work on indebtedness in urban areas, and the amount of money that people go into debt for to get their children to secondary and tertiary education is really striking. So indebtedness would be a major factor.

Academic says education system needs changes

Radio New Zealand International

AN ACADEMIC AT Papua New Guinea’s National Research Institute says there is a need for changes to the education curriculum particularly at the elementary level, where many children fail to learn to read and write.

Dr Arnold Kukari (pictured) was commenting after acting Education Minister James Marape gave officials until early next year to develop a new framework for a curriculum that is relevant to Papua New Guineans.

Dr Kukari says the planned objectives based system would not produce different results from the current outcomes-based curriculum.

But he says faults are apparent at the elementary level and changes, including improved teacher training, are needed.

“We need to have a look at the way teachers are educated and trained to teach at the foundational level, which is the elementary level,” he said.

“[We need to] provide full time training for elementary teachers with appropriate teaching pedagogy and content knowledge, particularly now that the system is moving towards introducing phonics at the elementary level.”

Kerevat National High set to resume its glory days

KEITH JACKSON

IT’S ONLY A COUPLE OF YEARS since the long established and much admired Kerevat National High School in East New Britain was facing doom.

This great school, which had educated many of Papua New Guinea’s most prominent leaders, was run down and it seemed as though its closure was imminent.

There were questions being asked about the collapse in its academic standards.

Funds allocated for its restoration had been siphoned off in a manner that could only be described as corrupt.

It looked like the end for Kerevat.

That it will become a School of Excellence next year represents not only a massive turnaround but a huge achievement for the Kerevat alumni and their supporters, including educator and author Barbara Short, the respected PNG Attitude contributor, who rallied to defend the school and drag it back from the brink of disaster.

The renovated school, which has produced a governor-general, a prime minister as well as many politicians, business people and community leaders, was launched by then Minister for Education, Paru Aihi, on 19 November.

“Lady M and I joined hundreds of people there,” noted former governor-general, Sir Paulias Matane. “The new buildings all looked impressive and the school looked new!

“The then Minister for Education, Paru Aihi, and Deputy Governor Boniface Setavo arrived by chopper just before 2pm.

“The heavy rain started and, although many people had left the school for their homes, we started the ceremony anyway.

“I was one of the speakers representing the Old Students, saying that the school had done a lot of good for the nation’s development.”

Poetry should be elevated in PNG schools, says top writer

KEITH JACKSON

MICHAEL DOM, ONE OF Papua New Guinea’s most eminent poets and winner of the 2012 Crocodile Prize for Poetry, says educationists should ensure poetry becomes a serious part of the PNG school curriculum.

In an essay, Poetry as an educational tool, to be published in PNG Attitude tomorrow, Michael Dom writes that PNG, with over 800 languages and a predominantly oral tradition, should be able to generate a significant amount of poetry and literature.

“We still have not even bothered to scratch the surface of this pool of traditional knowledge,” he says.

“This is one of the reasons why the Crocodile Prize, PNG Attitude and the Anthologies of PNG writing are such a great leap forward in sharing and promoting PNG literature.

“It’s our own stuff!

“Literature exists in many written languages but poetry is found in every language known to mankind, because it is primarily an aural tradition, it is meant to be recited to an audience.

“PNG’s languages are a precious gift from our ancestors,” he says. “Speaking those languages is a privilege, for it is the language in which our forbearers communicated their thoughts and emotions, and defined the lives that they came to lead, enabling them to survive for millennia.”

Michael Dom says appreciation of poetry adds quality to a person’s life – “for poetry is of the soul”.

“Reading and writing poetry is an expression of our fundamental beliefs and desires and our experiences in life.

“As such a precious gift, I believe it is neither appropriate nor practicable, nor even preferable, to leave the responsibility of maintaining these ancient languages in the hands of the government education system of the day.

“It is a fundamental responsibility of all the people of particular language group to encourage and foster the continuation of their language, through the arts and cultural activities they organise for themselves.”

UPNG leadership faces a crisis which could be ‘a tragedy’

In PNG Attitude in 2011 and in June this year, academic DR SCOTT MacWILLIAM, wrote that it was unclear “whether increased attention from the relevant PNG institutions and international aid donors is too late to rescue the country’s first university, UPNG” which, he said, in some respects “was in a near-terminal condition”. The story continues….

SINCE WRITING THE ARTICLES on UPNG in 2011 and earlier in 2012, there has been a further development regarding the selection process for a Vice-Chancellor at the University of Papua New Guinea.

The worst possible outcome is coming to pass.

The advertising for the position was appalling, limited and guaranteed not to attract high quality candidates with international university management experience.

A final stage has now been reached and there are two candidates still in the race.

Both of them have been at UPNG for years, have been complicit in the recent rapid decline and are now possible Vice-Chancellors.

Neither of the candidates has the necessary experience to rescue and revive what should be Papua New Guinea’s premier university.

Neither has either the academic standing nor the management experience to convince international donors that they should put major funds into the rebuilding of the university.

This is a tragedy for the future of the university and PNG.

Schools’ crisis: 5,000 extra teachers required in PNG

Radio Australia | ABC

SAMSON WANGIHOMIE from PNG’s Teaching Commission Service says there's a nationwide shortage of teachers that urgently needs to be addressed.

He estimates that 5,000 teaching jobs currently need to be filled.

Mr Wangihomie, the Commission's spokesman, told Radio Australia that despite increased salaries and tax breaks for teachers, not enough qualified people are joining the sector.

"Some teachers are doubling up so that's how we are coping at the moment," Mr Wangihomie said.

"Positions were created, and often no appointments were made to those positions, so that is where it is.

"But where there are shortages, teachers are basically taking up two classes each."

Mr Wangihomie added that rural areas are suffering more than cities

Effects of outcome-based education in Papua New Guinea

JOHN IROMEA | Solomon Star [extracts]

I WOULD LIKE TO RAISE some important aspects of the Outcome-Based Curriculum, or Outcome Based Education (OBE), in Papua New Guinea.

Let me begin, by saying, large numbers of children in developing countries receive little or no formal education.

I would like to share with you some important lessons to consider, especially during this time when we have new changes and new influences that had crept into our education practices.

As someone who spent most of his time working and studying in PNG, I think it is the right time to raise an issue of great concern - the OBE system in PNG. I am sure Solomon Islanders would learn a lot from this OBE lesson in the PNG education system.

PNG has undergone some substantive changes since 1994 to cater for the new OBE education reform.

It has been generally agreed that OBE would accommodate the real needs and aspirations of Papua New Guineans.

Many Papua New Guineans would expect that OBE would bring changes in the curriculum status, identifying the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that all students would achieve at a particular grade in a particular subject.

However, what the government of PNG and its people were expecting did not eventuate. The OBE reform has now come to a deadlock. Results gathered nationwide shows that there is a big problem with the implementation process.

Therefore, the government of PNG has decided to scrap OBE and retain the old system, Objective Base Education.

Generally speaking, the reform, although a good idea, in practice lacked many resources to foster its implementation.

From my own observation and research experience, I would like to mention that much of the policy would need more planning and feasibility groundwork before it can become a reality in school settings.

In addition, the government literally failed to fully capacitate the education system in the light of this reform. Lack of qualified teaching personnel and specialist manpower meant that the students learning experiences in classroom was seriously affected.

It created a lot of problems for the teachers who had direct contact with students in the classroom.

The government of PNG accepted Outcome Based Education without proper preparation in terms of adequate facilities, relevant teaching and learning materials, and properly trained specialist teachers to teach the content of newly introduced subjects.

In Papua New Guinea, the formal education system appears to fail more students than help them.

As such, the number of students enrolled for further studies is still low comparable to other Pacific nations. Even the literacy rate for PNG is, according to recent statistics, one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.

Australian students give some time to connect with PNG

SELINA VENIER | The Catholic Leader

YOUTH IN THE QUEENSLAND CITY of Maryborough have given their time and talent to people whom they may never meet.

Students from St Mary's College, Maryborough, have joined the "Sew PNG" project overseen by locals Frank and Pat Burkett.

So far, students have made 220 shoulder bags and pencil cases for Baga Elementary School and Tufi Primary School in Oro Province.

"(The project) has given the students a greater understanding of the poor conditions the students in this remote area face as they seek the key to a better educational future," Frank said.

The couple said their endeavours had been "greatly assisted by the staff at Boltons in Maryborough" who have supplied curtain fabric for the bags, along with others.

Contents of the shoulder bags are exercise books, a hat, thongs or "crocs" (shoes), clothes and a secondhand school uniform.

The pencil case contains "pencils, (pens), erasers, sharpeners ... as well as laminated bookmarks and cards made by the students assisted by parishioner Mariette Wilmink".

"The completed shoulder bags were labelled individually with the student's name and grade as gifts from Sew PNG Maryborough," Frank said.

The shipment to PNG will also include basic medical supplies for the Tufi medical centre.

Pat said: "The students are to be congratulated for their diligence and generous spirit ... (but) thanks hardly seems adequate."

My experiences as a medical student in PNG

POYAP ROONEY

IN 1995, TOWARDS THE END OF GRADE 12 at Port Moresby International High School, when the time came for us to choose what we wanted to do, I was undecided between engineering and medicine.

I remember asking my then girlfriend weather she’d prefer me coming home with greasy, oil stained hands or sterile hands smelling of some medication or another. Neither sounded particularly appealing to her.

In the end I figured I’d take the Science Foundation year at UPNG Waigani, which is both the pre-admission year and the first year of the Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) program. I would learn more science and at the end of the year could still go either way.

As my freshmen-year went by, I found my interest leaning towards medicine. I was intrigued by the science: human physiology, biochemistry and especially anatomy. I pictured myself as a surgeon as did many of my student peers.

I also revelled in the competition. Only the best students would be chosen to do medicine, and I wanted to prove (to who exactly I don’t know) that I was worthy to be counted amongst them.

I wasn’t a particularly brilliant student and at times was probably a bit lazy, but on the occasions that I sat down to understand the material, I thoroughly enjoyed and was very much intrigued by what I was learning.

I continued to play with the awesome Harlequins Rugby Union Team and got into the usual weekend drink-ups and shenanigans as happens with all rugby clubs. However, towards the end of the year, I had to take the rugby posters off the walls and replace them with charts of the Creb’s cycle, periodic tables and the likes.

Towards the end of 1996 I had well and truly decided and was determined to get into medicine. I saw the challenge and the discipline that was required and which would give my life structure, focus and a pathway I felt I wanted to travel.

Another reason behind my interest in science and medicine were that some of the strongest memories I had of my father, who had been murdered six years previously in 1990, were our many conversations about science.

As I read and learned more about things of science, in a way I felt I was continuing these conversations with him.

Challenges facing our universities: an insider perspective

LUDMILLA L SALONDA

THE CHALLENGES FACING the University of Papua New Guinea, highlighted in the article by Scott MacWilliam [PNG Attitude, 6 June 2012] are certainly not unique to that university.

All PNG universities confront these issues, imposed on them by factors including social, policy, economic, institutional cultural and ideological.

Some, if not all, of these factors create an extremely difficult context for universities to engage in the provision of quality higher education.  University administrators have found that administration is not sufficient. They must also be astute CEOs and managers.

I agree with the people who have pointed out that the picture painted is not sufficiently balanced by successes, as even if small, these are successes despite the many constraints. Nevertheless, the challenges are real.

All PNG universities face the challenge of attracting and retaining enough well qualified staff. A tutor with a first degree facing a teaching workload of 200 students and four units a semester is a symptom of this institutional challenge.

Academics with a PhD find they cannot devote sufficient time to research because they have to teach three units a semester from diploma to MA levels, supervise two PhD students - often on top of administrative duties.

The staffing challenge is exacerbated by policies such as localisation, well-meant but, when applied to universities, one which works against the metropolitan nature of the university organisation.

As a barrier to securing qualified staff, it denies PNG the opportunity to leverage a broad range of expertise to help develop and sustain its development.

All universities are required by regulation to provide sufficient, well-equipped and well-maintained learning and teaching resources including laboratories, lecture rooms, text books, well-resourced libraries, ICT etc.

Funding aside, here also there are policy barriers which curtail universities’ ability to explore cost efficient provision strategies leveraging ICT.

Furthermore, a number of universities are defined as businesses and made to pay corporate fees and charges.

The overall policy context is challenging but the biggest problem is funding. There is just not enough of it to sustain current operations as well as have something left over for expansion.

Call for action against conservatism in sex education

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S ONLY WOMAN MP is calling on Pacific Island countries to rally against religious conservatism to ensure young people can make informed decisions about sex and pregnancy.

(See also Werner Cohill’s recent article in PNG Attitude.)

Dame Carol Kidu was among several Pacific politicians attending the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development’s annual meeting, this year focusing on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of Pacific adolescents.

Dame Carol said the churches are a greater force than politics in many ways but politicians must be prepared to take them on.

“The religious conservatism, we’ve got to work at it subtly and gently, I know,” Dame Carol said.

“But we have to move fairly fast because there are people dying, there are people dying of HIV who should not be dying because they’re too ashamed to go and get treatment - it shouldn’t be happening, young people, good young people.”

Dame Carol Kidu said indigenous leaders need to find religious champions and give them the courage to stand up for their beliefs.

Rebuilding the University of Papua New Guinea

SCOTT MacWILLIAM
DEVELOPMENT POLICY BLOG

AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT, as well as deliberate policies which downplayed the importance of tertiary education for Papua New Guineans, there are some signs suggesting changes are underway.

What is not clear is whether increased attention from the relevant PNG institutions and international aid donors is too late to rescue the country’s first university, the University of Papua New Guinea at Waigani.

If UPNG, located in the nation’s capital, cannot be reconstructed to international standards, then it is unlikely that any substantial university-level institution will exist elsewhere in PNG.

UPNG, which is primarily an undergraduate teaching university, is in a near-terminal condition regarding classrooms, staff offices and housing, out-dated library facilities and limited internet access.

Most importantly of all, staff-student ratios are disgraceful and despite their undoubted enthusiasm and abilities many students are taught only by junior staff, many of them on temporary employment contracts as early-career lecturers and tutors.

The standard of undergraduate teaching and learning is very low, and has declined substantially since the university was established over forty years ago.

UPNG bears little resemblance to ANU and the other Go8 [high level] universities [ in Australia].

Many of its problems are more like those faced by the Australian universities which teach large numbers of undergraduates, by staff who have little time or other resources for research….

While there may be some UPNG staff who are involved in international collaboration on research, the number is very small. Instead more permanent academics supplement their university wages and salaries through consultancies, which also reduce their commitment to teaching.

Attention should be directed at strengthening undergraduate courses, up to the Honours level, though, as argued below, this will also require a strengthening of research capacities….

An especially discouraging indicator is the superficial process now taking place to find candidates for the soon-to-be-vacant position of Vice Chancellor. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the search did not go beyond placing ads in the country’s newspapers.

No advertisement appeared on the UPNG website, which has not been updated since 2007. While the closing date for applications was 18 May and the applicants are not publicly known, the limited scope of the advertising does not provide much hope that the senior management of the university is about to be revitalised.

At a time when education is internationalised and students at UPNG aspire to obtain training and credentials which will be accepted world-wide, the failure to scour the globe for the best candidates is tantamount to neglect on a major scale.

Post-graduate medical training: learning from Fiji

POYAP ROONEY
SOUTH PACIFIC MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

I HAVE PREVIOUSLY COMMENTED on post-graduate (PG) clinical training in Papua New Guinea, explaining that currently the much under-resourced University of PNG is the only institution providing training and setting the only national benchmark in medical training.

I have also suggested that a way forward for PG medical training would be for individual professional bodies (surgeons, physicians, paediatrician, general practitioners etc) to establish their own training programs and take the responsibility from UPNG.

These professional associations can establish specialist colleges akin to the existing colleges within the Asia Pacific region and worldwide.

The draft Medical Practice and Registration Bill - available from the PNG Medical Board website, specifically paragraph 24 – outlines the proposed regulation for such PG medical colleges and provides a good platform for discussion on ways forward.

While the regulation of such “educational institution” as outlined in this bill will be vested in the Medical Board, the actual training programs, quality assurance and curriculum (in essence the nuts and bolts) of PG training is best developed and set by the professional bodies themselves.

Browsing through the internet I was impressed by the Fiji College of General Practitioners which apparently has been established for about 20 years. Unfortunately their website would not open but I did manage to download a flyer advertising their 20th annual scientific meeting to be held this month.

I know very little about Fiji, and the western media tends to paint a dark picture about the political climate there, but despite this, its medical education is not only keeping its head above water but seems to be thriving.

It would be interesting to find out more about this impressive college and how PNG and other South Pacific island countries can learn from its experience. I was especially impressed by the calibre of topics that they will be discussing during this month’s meeting.

I ended my last post by saying:

Specialist groups in PNG wishing to establish a specialist college can only benefit from finding out more about the Fiji College of GPs and overall medical training in Fiji.

In future there may be a case for establishing South Pacific colleges that can serve our collective purposes, a concept which will evolve slowly over time.

Sexual violence forcing girls out of school

IRIN NEWS

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST YOUNG GIRLS, and the shame and stigma that follows, is forcing many out of school and others into early marriage, a recent study by Médecins Sans Frontières shows.

MSF, one of PNG’s main providers of medical and psychological assistance to survivors of family and sexual violence, said that from 2008 to 2011, a significant proportion of patients who received treatment as a result of violence were children, some under the age of five.

In the rural settlement of Tari, 31% of those who reported violence were between five and 12 years old. In Lae, 26% percent were between the ages of 13 and 17.

Almost half of those reporting sexual violence in Lae from January 2008 to June 2010 - some 520 people - were under 18 years old. In Tari, 248 were minors.

“In both places, in over 70% of the cases, the perpetrators were known by the survivors,”  said Patrick Almeida, MSF’s medical coordinator.

“It’s really bad,” said Ume Wainetti, head of the NGO, Family Sexual Violence Action Centre (FSVAC), based in Port Moresby.

Young girls are already disadvantaged when it comes to education, and the threat of rape and sexual abuse aggravates these inequalities.

As it is, parents generally hesitate to send their daughters to school because they will just get married and have babies. Boys will carry on the family name and continue to work,” Wainetti said.

The remote locations of schools have even greater implication for girls. “Some kids have to walk for hours to get to school and the journey on the way to school makes them vulnerable to attack, especially for girls,” said Joseph Logha, Department of Education assistant secretary.

“The experience of sexual violence definitely affects a girl’s education in terms of being able to stay in school and school performance,” said Ruth Kauffman, MSF project coordinator at a Family Support Centre in Lae.

These centres are intended to be safe houses and “one-stop shops” for survivors of violence for medical, psychosocial and legal assistance.

“If a girl is raped, she may be blamed and beaten by family members. If she gets pregnant, she misses one year of school and may not be able to go back. Even if she doesn’t [fall pregnant], she’s already a different person. The trauma makes it difficult for her to concentrate on school work,” Kauffman said.

Wainetti said one way of ending a culture of violence is to change people seeing violence against women as a given. The NGO has recruited more than 1,000 male volunteers of varying ages nationwide to receive “gender sensitivity” training.

“Some witnessed violence and did not like seeing how their mothers were treated,” Wainetti said. “They want to have a role in ending that cycle, and this is a start.”

Why they’re all going to vote Liberal today

BY PAUL OATES

Dear Mr Oates - We recommend that you explore the   option of establishing an AHES program for the teaching of Tok Pisin in your area. The Queensland LOTE Centre would be able to assist you with this endeavour. I trust this information is of assistance. Warm regards [Dr Suzanne Innes, Acting Assistant-Director General, Education Queensland]

WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT. The final response to my suggestion that Tok Pisin be taught in Australian schools.

The suggestion progressed like this.

An article in PNG Attitude; an interview on ABC radio; a letter to Mr Marles who supported the idea; then a letter to Mr Garrett's federal education department who thought it had merit; finally to the Queensland education department which suggested, as you have read above, that if I was interested I could take the matter up with my local school.

Apparently if I want Melanesian taught in the local school I have to do it myself.

Can someone tell me what language I am apparently using to pursue this initiative? Clearly it's not English.

So 'warm regards’ to you too, Dr Innes.

I'm slowly counting to ten. Wahnnnnnn, toooo.....

Evolution of post-grad medical training in PNG

BY POYAP ROONEY
SOUTH PACIFIC MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

WORLDWIDE, MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING is provided by universities where students graduate with a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (MBBS mostly) which gives them the basic foundational knowledge on which they then continuously build on as they begin and progress through their medical careers.

After graduation, the new graduates spend the first one or two years doing rotations in the major medical fields gaining hands on experience and begin to work out for themselves what medical specialist career they’re interested in pursuing.

In Australia this is the Intern year, while in Papua New Guinea this is the pre-registration: Resident Medical Officers (RMO) program.

In PNG the satisfactory completion of the RMO program is a compulsory requirement for full registration with the PNG Medical Board as stipulated in the Medical Registration Act 1980. 

During the two years the junior doctor, who is given a provisional registration status with the Medical Board rotates as follows through the seven major fields of medicine: internal medicine (adult medicine) 4 months; surgery 4 months; paediatrics 4 months; obstetrics and gynaecology 4 months; emergency medicine 3 months; anaesthesiology 2 months; rural attachments 3 months.

During their attachments the doctors work under supervision alongside senior colleagues and learn the ropes of working as a doctor in PNG.

They get as much hands on experience as possible with the various procedures and become competent in managing the many medical conditions to enable them to work as independent primary health doctors when they attain full registration.

After satisfactorily completing this rotation and meeting the requirement of the PNGMB as stipulated in the Medical Registration Act 1980 they attain full registered medical officer status.

Once fully registered, doctors are basically free to practice medicine and charge for their services with relatively little ongoing regulatory requirements.

The current Medical Registration Act 1980 only stipulates the requirements for a doctor (and dental officer and other allied health workers) to get registered for the different classes of registration, but does not have any specific requirements or limitations when it comes to how, what and where a practicing doctor in PNG with full registration (whatever the class of registration) can practice.

Essentially this means that any registered doctor can legally perform major surgery on a consenting patient. Most doctors know their individual professional limitation and perform within these limits.

You don’t realise you’re most needed until you arrive

BY PETER DANIELS

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE as a teacher at Pindiu High School. I am a young new graduate male teacher from Siassi and I have the heart to serve diligently in my career.

Pindiu is at the foot of the Cromwell Range in the Finschhafen district of Morobe Province. It is a small station built around an old airstrip on two and a half hectares of sloping mountainside.

Travelling to Pindiu from Lae is very expensive. From Lae to Finchhafen costs K80 for the Lutheran shipping passengers. From Gagidu travelling by road up to Pindiu is K70. And you would have to spend roughly K50 on food and buai, totalling about K200 for the trip.

Well the adventure gets interesting because the road trip actually ends at Silamana which is roughly still a half day’s walk from Pindiu. Actually the first time it took me one heck of a whole days walk.

The passenger trucks can’t travel past Silamana because the road is in very bad condition. So I stayed the night and began walking at 6 o’clock in the morning. By the time I got to Mongi River it was three in the afternoon. And from Mongi River to Pindiu Station it took me approximately another 6 hours to get there. By 9pm I arrived at the newly built Pindiu High School.

Most of the populated villages are located beyond Pindiu and most people depend on coffee as the main cash crop for income. I have witnessed villagers carrying bags of coffee beyond Pindiu, passed Pindiu to Mongi and up to Silamana.

I learnt they have been doing that for more than six years now. There is huge untapped potential in coffee to boost the economy of Finschhafen that I have seen ignored. There are many closed trade stores in the villages because it has become impossible to transport goods in bulk up to the station.

With the few struggling retailers that are still operating, the cost of goods sold is so shockingly expensive.

The nearest health facility is the Wagazaring Health Centre. It has lacked proper facilities and medical supplies for more than six years now.

On 5 March I witnessed a girl who was bitten by a snake. There was no supply of anti-venom when she was taken to Wagazaring health centre for treatment. On the way down to Pindiu the girl died.

Australian schools neglect Pacific cultures

BY TIM COSTELLO
CANBERRA TIMES

FOR MANY OF US, studying geography may be just a distant memory of pouring over maps of ''mountains and rivers''. Of course, today geography curriculum is a key part of preparing students for the increasingly globalised world of the 21st century.

It's why the draft Australian Geography curriculum from the Australian Curriculum Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) is so important.

It was released in October last year and consultation closes this month. It is scheduled to be introduced into schools next year.

While the draft curriculum is to be commended for having a global focus, there are some rather glaring omissions. The new draft geography curriculum fails to include any study of our own Pacific region.

Despite our important trade, aid, migration, sporting, military and tourism links with countries like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, the region is never explicitly mentioned.

Australian school students and families with a national or cultural background in the Pacific may justifiably feel ignored and overlooked.

The Pacific has often looked like Asia's poor cousin in the Australian education system. Critics have argued there is a failure to teach about Pacific cultures in our schools and nothing to give us hope that Australia may move beyond the ''us and them'' mentality in thinking about Pacific policy.

Unfortunately, the new draft geography curriculum may do little to change this.

At a recent Social Educators Conference in Melbourne, when asked why the Pacific was omitted, Peter Hill, the chief executive of ACARA, suggested that the Pacific was in fact part of Asia.

How can Australia be a good international neighbour if we are not teaching our young people about the issues facing our own neighbourhood?

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/schools-neglect-pacific-cultures-20120226-1tw91.html#ixzz1nUgRvoDe

Tim Costello is chief executive officer of World Vision Australia and patron of the Australian Geography Teachers' Association.

Teaching of Tok Pisin moves a step forward

BY PAUL OATES

I HAVE RECEIVED A POSITIVE RESPONSE from Richard Marles, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, in reference to my suggestion that Tok Pisin be taught in Australian schools.

I would like to share Mr Marles’ words with PNG Attitude readers, noting that the next step is up to Peter Garrett, the Minister for School Education.

Dear Mr Oates,

Thank you for your letter of 3 December 2011 about the teaching of Melanesian Tok Pisin in Australian schools.

I agree that Australia’s relationships with the countries of our region are vitally important. Since my appointment as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, I have made this promotion of Australia’s shared history with and contemporary linkages to the Pacific as a priority.

Our relationship with our neighbour Papua New Guinea is of particular significance. I have advanced a number of new high-level initiatives to deepen and broaden this special relationship.

These include the annual PNG Symposium, which brings together leading academics of both nations to discuss our relationship, and the annual PNG Independence Day Oration at Parliament House, which last year was delivered by former PNG Prime Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu.

Your proposal that Tok Pisin be taught in Australian schools is a positive contribution to the discussion of how Australia can better relate to our immediate region.

Accordingly, I have referred your letter to the Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP, the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, who has portfolio responsibility for such matters.

Thank you again for bringing your proposal to my attention and for your interest in Australia’s Pacific policy.

Yours sincerely,
Richard Marles

Blatchford education archives add papers for 1968

THE BLATCHFORD COLLECTION is the largest compilation of archival materials relating to the pre-Independence Papua New Guinea education system brought together in the one place.

And, after a bit of an absence as he pursued more athletic interests, Loch Blatchford [pictured amidst his collection] has returned to the exacting task of writing abstracts of these documents to make them more accessible to researchers and to a general readership.

The bulk of the collection comprises letters and documents from the files of the PNG Department of Education before 1977. These are supplemented by material from other PNG departments and a number of private collections.

If you have documents relating to education in Papua New Guinea, you might care to email Loch Blatchford and advise him. Researchers are also welcome to get in touch with Loch.

The Blatchford Collection for 1968, together with abstracts for all the other years from 1944, is now available here in PNG Attitude.

Much of 1968 is spent examining all levels of the education system to determine its future structure, direction and related manpower needs. There is a move to involve the religious Missions in educational planning for a unified approach to education and economic development.

In January the Secondary Planning Group issues a 140-page report to support the establishment of a number of new high schools and the expansion of existing high schools.

In March the ‘Report of Joint Working Party on Educational Policy’ is produced. The report written by the Administration and the Department of External Territories, but strongly influenced by Director of Education Ken McKinnon, sets the framework for the Administration and the Missions to form an integrated education system planned on a national basis and staffed by a unified teaching service.

In August and September Professor LJ Lewis undertakes a look at the primary curriculum and advises against a rural bias. He also recommends a committee of inquiry be appointed to report on the question of relationships between the Mission and Administration education systems.

McKinnon discusses the matter with Canberra but goes on leave on 3 September and does not return until the end of February 1969. The latter half of 1968 is spent organising the membership of a committee. Beeby is a firm member and Canberra suggests Weeden as another.

In July the Ministerial Member and Assistant Member system is introduced into Parliament with Members being required to be in Port Moresby for three weeks each month to meet with the Administrator and become involved in policy and budget planning.

Mathias ToLiman the Ministerial Member for Education is taking more responsibility and the Missions, especially the Catholics, which he feels may become a tool for the Administration.

‘Programmes and Policies for the Economic Development of Papua and New Guinea’ is released in September.

The Governor-General reconstitutes the Department of Territories as the Department of External Territories so that it may concentrate the bulk of its activities on Papua and New Guinea.

And, for those readers who have not visited the Collection before, here’s what just one of those thousands of abstracts looks like:

JOHNSON LW
COLONIAL SUNSET
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND, ST LUCIA, 1983

“After the 1968 election we had in mind the appointment of some Ministerial Members from the Pangu Pati but the party rejected these proposals preferring to be independent of government decisions.  Pangu was well led in the House by Michael Somare, with strong support from Tony Voutas, Ebia Olewale, Pita Lus and others.” p16

Time to rethink PNG’s colonial education system

BY PHIL FITZPATRICK

EDUCATION HAS BECOME a curious artefact in the modern market economy.  In many ways it has become a mechanism of social control.

On the one hand it is necessary to have a suitably indoctrinated and compliant population that can read the advertising and calculate the coinage necessary to buy the junk that you want to sell to them but on the other hand if they get too much education they can become uppity and bothersome.

In this sense, high school is probably the upper limit.  That’s the level that will not only produce a crop of happy consumers but also the dopey but necessary business people who can’t see beyond the big houses and flash cars as their goal in life.

After high school it is necessary to limit educational opportunities for the masses.  University is the most dangerous level because it is where people start to think for themselves. 

Not only do you need to carefully limit the opportunities to go to uni but you also need to introduce protections for the lucky few, such as demanding formal qualifications for high paying jobs and setting up exclusive professional organisations to keep the undesirables out. 

At the same time you need to actively cast dispersions on other forms of knowledge, particularly the traditional. 

At least that’s how it works in most westernised countries.  A high school education is relatively easy to acquire but beyond that, if you don’t come from the right background, it’s hard yakka.

Using formal education as a mantra and panacea for the woes of society is a well tried and trusty formula.  It has its limitations however. 

There is nothing worse than a working class girl or boy with a degree. When Gough Whitlam introduced free university education in Australia successive governments fell over themselves to shut it down.

The O’Neill government has promised to introduce free education up to Year 10.  For a government trying to develop and control a market economy it is a logical step.

But will it work in Papua New Guinea where the real economy is still largely agrarian? 

It might be a bridge too far to change a population growing its own food into one working for wages and spending its idle hours staring at wide screen televisions.

Perhaps it’s time to stand back and rethink the education equation.  Maybe the education system introduced in colonial times and since perpetuated, just like the system of government, isn’t the best one for Papua New Guinea.

Maybe the goal of a market economy is not right either.

Catholic teachers in PNG’s Western province

WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE of Daru-Kiunga, which covers the entire Western Province, are by no means easy.

After travelling along the Fly River by boat, teachers frequently have to walk long distances on foot through difficult terrain in order to reach their schools.

Education and spiritual formation represent a priority for the pastoral work of the diocese. This is expressed in a special pastoral plan, which in 2011 bore the motto "Free to Walk Together". For 2012 the slogan chosen is "Solidarity".

The diocese also attaches great importance to the continuing formation of its teaching staff, for as Sister Marilyn Akonoh of the diocesan education office writes in a letter to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, "The pastoral formation of the teachers is reflected in the progress of the pupils."

Sister Marilyn and her successor, Sister Imelda Ruasoi, organise regular retreat days for over 150 Catholic teachers. They include courses that aim to help the participants to understand their professional work as a form of service.

"They can find an example for their own work in the life of Jesus, who was Teacher, Leader and humble Servant at the same time", says Sister Marilyn. ACN is supporting their initiative with a contribution of over $15,000.

Photo: Sister Imelda (Education Office), Sister Evelyn (pastoral assistant at St Gerard's Parish) and Sister Marylin Akonoh (Education Office).

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

Free education in PNG will not work: union

BY CATHERINE GRAUE

THE PNG TEACHERS' UNION is calling on parents to continue paying their children's school fees next year, despite the government's promise of free education.

The PNG government has allocated K1.3 million to make school free for students from Year 7 to Year 10.

The PNG Teacher's Association is predicting that many of the more than half a million students not currently enrolled in school will head to the classroom as a result.

But the union's national secretary, Ugwalubu Mowana, told Radio Australia the government's funding will not be enough to cover the costs of providing quality education.

"I believe it is important the parents must continue some percentage of the school fee component," he said.

The union is also concerned an increase in student numbers will have adverse impacts on their learning, and has called for additional funding to ensure more teachers are trained.

The PNG government is promising to spend $565 million to implement an education policy.

Source: Australia Network News

After 24 hours, political situation remains confused

BY KEITH JACKSON

6:30PM Well, after 24 hours of confusion we have, er, continuing confusion. I'll sign off this live blog here but, if there are other significant events this evening, we'll report on them.  Meanwhile it seems both political groupings in PNG have hunkered down for a long night's strategising - and good luck to both of them. Another 2,000 page views for PNG Attitude during the course of today have made this exercise even more worhwhile.  Thanks to all our readers. We'll do it again sometime.

6:15PM Liam Fox has just reported for the ABC from Port Moresby that the Governor-General's private secretary has told Peter O'Neill and his fellow politicians that Sir Michael Ogio will not talk to them.  A short time ago the group, variously estimated at 40-60 MPs, left the area of Government House.  The secretary said the Governor-General is "confused" by the Supreme Court decision and asked the politicians to "sort it out amongst themselves".

6:05PM The Governor-General is reported by the ABC to have urged the opposing contenders for PNG prime minister to 'sort out the issue amongst themselves'. It seems Sir Michael Ogio is seeking a political solution, which presumably will be resolved on the floor of parliament.

5:17PM Journalist Ilya Gridneff (now with the Sun-Herald) emails that he's on his way to Port Moresby "to sort things out".  Ilya spent two years in PNG with AAP until earlier in 2011.  The big media guns are being rolled into position!

5:10PM A PNG Attitude reader reports (and has been very assertive in offline comments to me) that Governor-General Michael Ogio is meeting with Peter O'Neill and is scheduled to meet with Sir Michael Somare tomorrow.  If this information is correct it could be that he is trying to assure himself whether a government can be formed.  If not, he may dissolve parliament and call a general election [see Harry Topham's comment].

Why Australian schools should teach Tok Pisin

When Julie Bishop suggested Australian school students learn an Asian language, PAUL OATES proposed that it be Tok Pisin.  Radio Australia picked up the story and now Paul is reinforcing with this message in a letter to Australia’s major political parties.  Some extracts….

HUMAN LANGUAGE is a skill that must be learnt and developed. Studies indicate the earlier that language is learnt, the better.

The recent suggestion by the Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop that Australian school children learn an Asian language is a very good idea.

School children of yesteryear were usually offered French and Latin or maybe German as high school subjects. These languages, while important, failed to reflect Australia’s geographic location.

Over the years, Japanese and Indonesian were sometimes added to school curriculums as optional extras but not given any real imperative.

If Australia is to recognise the part of the world we live in, it is essential that the South Pacific not be ignored. Papuan New Guinea’s lingua franca (Tok Pisin) would be an excellent choice to include in Australian school curriculums.

Neo Melanesian or Tok Pisin is a relatively new language that has developed over the last 150 years. Unfortunately in the past it has been denigrated by some who think it is just broken English and just dismissed as ‘Pigeon English’.

It is actually a refreshingly different language with a distinctive vocabulary and grammar.

A full Melanesian - English dictionary was compiled by Father Francis Mihalic SVD, BA and published in 1957 by Westmead Printing. A reprint was published in 1971 and an updated version is being considered.

Mihalic’s ‘Grammar and Dictionary of Neo Melanesian’ built on previous work by skilled linguists who concentrated on converting to a written form the spoken language of many PNG people.

Tok Pisin can be a stepping stone to English from one of the more than 800 local PNG languages. It has been estimated to have about five million users and ‘is one of at least four Pacific creole languages: the others being Bislama in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands Pijin, and Torres Strait Creole.

Tok Pisin is often used as the language of choice between educated PNG English speakers as a means of friendly salutation and verbal relaxation.

With the expanding use of the internet and email, young Australians, if fluent in Tok Pisin, could interact with their peers in PNG. This would enhance cultural understanding and also cement lasting ties between our two countries.

Promoting the learning of Tok Pisin in Australian schools will help encourage better understanding and community awareness of our next door neighbours, our region and its people. It would be decidedly in Australia’s best interests.

Call for domestic violence education in schools

THE ASSISTANT POLICE COMMISSIONER for Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region wants children to be taught about domestic violence at school.

Simon Kauba’s comment followed a suggestion from another member of the Highlands police force that the bride price system is one of the major contributing factors to the high rate of violence against women.

But Mr Kauba said even if the dowry system could be removed, other more significant factors such as alcohol abuse and socio-economic pressures would remain.

He says there should be more education on why violence against women is unacceptable.

“Particularly it should be introduced in the school syllabus and it can be brought across the nation to the schools and institutions,” Mr Kauba said.

“This may be one way and the other one that I see is that I think the male population has to come down to earth and realise the importance that the woman plays in this country.”

Mr Kauba says violence against women has increased as resource development has accelerated in PNG.

Source: Radio New Zealand International, 23 November

Australia and PNG cooperate on universities

THE UNIVERSITY system of Papua New Guinea will be reformed under an agreement between PNG and the Australoian federal government.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the reforms will be driven by a review of the PNG system by former prime minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu and economist Professor Ross Garnaut.

The review, released yesterday, lays the groundwork to address issues such as the funding of universities in PNG, weaknesses in infrastructure and the need for improved governance.

"Implementing this agenda will require sustained commitment from both governments over a number of years," Mr Rudd said in a statement.

"Australia and PNG both believe that quality education is one of the most effective means of promoting economic and social development."

PNG will increase government funding to universities while Australia will help PNG support the "rehabilitation" of national high schools to improve the quality of university entrants, in line with the review recommendations.

Australia will also look at building formal relationships between Australian and PNG universities.

Source: Melbourne Herald-Sun, 12 October

Looking back through less than misty eyes

BY LEONARD FONG ROKA

THE FINAL days of our 2011 academic year in the Divine Word University have become harmonious and conducive to hard work after a ‘nightclub and a showground’ situation for the past months. The final examinations are looming.

Walking through the main gate of this university last February, I thought how lucky I was to be in this church-run institution.  Before I arrived here, I heard that Christian Ethics was a compulsory course.  I considered the University of Papua New Guinea, where I had studied in 2003 and walked out in 2004, as backward in religious terms.

Entering my temporary room I thought it would be a replica of my Mako’sii hamlet in the Panguna District of Bougainville, which so many people had named a ‘recluse stash’ since I was always glued to my desk doing a bit of literature work and my secretarial duties to the Ioro Roadworks and Construction Company Limited.

I considered DWU as such because all around me there would be responsible fellow students with intellectualism burning bright in them. Also I thought that the liberation of PNG from its political, social or economic problems would be engineered by those few people nurtured within the perimeters of universities where morality and ethics are a norm. I was happy to be part of that team with Bougainville in my heart.

To my dismay, as the days went by, the opposite was happening. Our dormitory rooms were equipped with ‘sound woofers’ by roommates and the neighbours also brought in theirs. This turned our rooms into cinemas and pubs during the weekends.

The competition to download the latest hit song or movie became a culture and our rooms turned into showrooms where any music or video diehard called in to waste time and disturb the rest.

As Martyn Namorong wrote, time to us is secular - for there will be a moment tomorrow, next week and next month.  We do not see that as time goes by, you and I are nearing our beautiful coffin.

I have had gone through worse nightmares trying to adapt into a community of irresponsible, careless and disrespectful persons that still Papua New Guinea calls the future leaders.

I describe my DWU community as such.  First and foremost, we have rules to follow. We have certain rights but rights come with obligations. That has not been so evidenced in this university.

Here students turn to see problems in the DWU Administration without admitting that most of the problems are related to the actions of the individual.

Irresponsibility, carelessness and disrespect for others or facilities has been a problem for us. We dress our bodies in intellectual attire on schooldays - the polished boots and neckties of the DWU lecture rooms - whilst our weekend attitude, residential buildings and ablutions paint as the worst problems in this struggling country.

Beer drinks us up and out of our intellectuality. We claim we are intellectuals, when littering is heavy in our dorms.  We try to feign intellectualism when our ablutions are grubby and stink because we don’t bother to follow the rules.

Isn’t this the early sign that PNG is no way near in a safe and sound position for betterment? Think twice and change oneself as taught to us in Ethics classes, then we can claim PNG as safe.

So, PNG, your future leaders are studying these final days with our style of study ‘just an hour before the examinations’. When examinations are months away, we drink, fight and disturb those that try to unearth the real reasons as to why they are in this advanced university.

Bible Society reaches out to PNG prisoners

BY GREG CLARKE

THE COMPASSION of Jesus for people is being experienced by the hundreds of prison inmates in Papua New Guinea who are learning to read God's Word.

Through the Bible Society's successful literacy program, we are hearing many stories of prisoners who have found grace through Jesus and are now embarking on a hope-filled future.

The Bible Society began this ambitious project three years ago to help reach and rehabilitate PNG prison inmates.

Prisoners are trained to teach Bible-based literacy lessons to fellow inmates, many of whom are short-term detainees for relatively minor crimes and have never had the opportunity to attend school.

More than 300 prisoners in 10 prisons have graduated from the program, including Margaret, who always had a desire to read the Bible.

After five months of classes, I am now able to read the Word of God myself.  I am also beginning to read time on a wall clock. My writing is improving and I have written a letter to my children, who have also shared my joy.

God saw my need and made it possible for me to fulfil it. My desire after leaving prison is to share the Word of God with my family members, especially my children, which I was unable to do in their early years of growing, so they too can experience the love of God.

If God wants me to spread his Word, I am able to do it now because now I am able to read the Word of God myself. I don't know how to thank Bible Society for giving me this opportunity; I have nothing to give to you in return. May God bless you all.

Margaret's future looks bright having found a purpose in life and a desire to share the Bible with others.

This desire to share the Good News has already seen eight ex-prisoners return to teach literacy to their family and friends in communities where illiteracy rates can be as high as 50%. Two graduates have been asked to teach in village elementary schools and one released inmate is now completing a university course!

Another exciting outcome from this innovative program is that some skilled detainees are using their time in prison to translate timeless Bible stories into local languages. Praise God that 12 of the 800+ PNG languages have already been translated.

These materials can be used in schools for children learning to read, creating a wonderful opportunity for a new generation to hear about Jesus.

Imagine an entire country encountering our living God through the testimony of prisoners who have experienced his uncompromising grace! To see this vision realised, there is so much more that must be done.

With 18 prisons and more than 4,000 inmates in PNG, Bible Society would like to train, encourage and support more people to teach literacy.

Will you help us raise the $150,000 needed to teach Bible-based literacy to thousands of PNG prisoners?

Your generous tax deductible gift and faith-filled prayers will see many more prisoners learn to read and write, to teach others and most importantly open their hearts to God.

Dr Greg Clarke is CEO of Bible Society Australia

With thanks to Barbara Short

Not enough teachers to satisfy govt initiative

THE GENERAL SECRETARY of the Papua New Guinea Teachers Association says there won’t be enough teachers to fulfill the government’s wish to provide free education for students up to Year 10.

Ugwalubu Mowana says the government initiative is a bold one but currently the number of teachers being trained is exceeded by those leaving the profession.

In its first budget the O’Neill government has allocated $165 million to education for next year, but Mr Mowana says this won’t go far.

“This amount of money is small. It proably might cater for teacher and learning materials but it won’t assist infrastructure development in schools,” he said.

“Likewise it will not help in training of teachers with that allocation.”

Mr Mowana says the government initiative is likely to lead to larger classes and affect the quality of education provided.

Source: Radio New Zealand International, 26 September

Free school education goal seen as ‘ambitious’

A CANADIAN volunteer organisation working in Papua New Guinea has described the government’s aim to provide free education up to year ten as “ambitious”.

The O’Neill government’s first budget has given its biggest single allocation to education, offering K305 million to the sector.

The education program manager for Canadian University Service Overseas in PNG, Richard Jones, says it’s great news that the spend on education has increased over recent years, but he believes the scope of the government’s aim is to broad.

“We would like the government to focus on the lower primary grades first, as per their universal basic education plan,” he said.

“Mostly to ensure there is enough teachers and classrooms for the children that are coming into school”.

Richard Jones who says the level the government has agreed to spend needs to be sustained for a number of years.

Source: Radio New Zealand International, 25 September
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