Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

is managed through nineteen

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and two district organisational units. It is tuition-free and attendance is not compulsory. The

Human Rights Measurement Initiative The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) is a non-profit organisation primarily housed in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 2016 by Anne-Marie Brook, K. Chad Clay, and Susan Randolph: experts in human rights and economics. These ...

(HRMI) finds that Papua New Guinea is fulfilling 68.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Papua New Guinea's income level, the nation is achieving 96.5% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and only 40.6% for secondary education.

History

The first school in Papua New Guinea was established in 1873 by English missionaries. Missionaries would continue providing the basis for education, with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

as primary languages. In 1914, as part of World War I, Australia took control over German New Guinea and English became the sole official language. The Currie Commission was created in 1964 to investigate the establishment of higher education in the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New G ...

. In 1965 the first university in Papua New Guinea, the University of Papua New Guinea, was established. It was heavily influenced by the Australian education system. In 1995, the government of Papua New Guinea implemented a bilingual education program that uses both community languages and English. Education in Papua New Guinea has been tuition-free since 2012, as one of the election promises of the People's National Congress.

Provision

Papua New Guinea's history of missionary education has led to a large part of education being provided by religious schools. The Department of Education has estimated that 29% of the country's lower secondary education is operated by churches. 3% is operated by private international schools, while the remainder is funded by the government.

Educational Stages

Papua New Guinea has an A-to-D grading system, with D being a failing grade. During the first three years of formal education, community languages are taught as a subject and used for instruction. In grades seven and eight, instruction is conducted solely in English, although community languages may still be used informally. By the early 2000s, more than 400 languages were being used in Papua New Guinea’s educational system.

Universities

There are six universities in Papua New Guinea. These are accredited under the PNG Office of Higher Education and have establishing Acts of Parliament. The six universities and the main campus of each are, in alphabetical order: * Divine Word University in Madang * Pacific Adventist University in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

* University of Goroka in

Goroka Goroka is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It is a town of approximately 19,000 people (2000), above sea level. It has an airport (in the centre of town) and is on the "Highlands Highway", about 285 km from ...

University of Natural Resources and Environment
in Vudal with associated campuses in Popondetta, Kavieng and Sepik * University of Papua New Guinea in

*University of Technology (Unitech) in Lae

Language education

In 2015,

Papua New Guinean Sign Language Papua New Guinean Sign Language (PNGSL) is a sign language originating from Papua New Guinea. The standardised form of PNGSL was made an official language of Papua New Guinea in 2015. The language has been called "Melanesian Sign Language". Howe ...

became an official language in PNG. Based on

Auslan Auslan () is the majority sign language of the Australian Deaf community. The term ''Auslan'' is a portmanteau of "Australian Sign Language", coined by Trevor Johnston in the 1980s, although the language itself is much older. Auslan is relat ...

, it is used in

deaf education Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and othe ...

References

{{Oceania topic, Education in