P is for Papua New Guinea (PNG)
by Arandeep Degun
(Author's Note: It is important to mention that although Oman is the only country beginning with “O," we were unable to post the “O is for Oman” article as it contained some references that required the author’s special permission. If and when we receive it, we will certainly post it.)
Papua New Guinea is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world. As well as the mainland, PNG also encompasses over 600 small islands and archipelagos. It is rich in resources (gold, copper, silver, oil and gas) but poor in health. Most of the country’s population live in rural communities and are faced with significant challenges in health, education and economic opportunity. As of 1 January 2017, the population of Papua New Guinea was estimated to be 7,866,753 people. PNG is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world with over 800 languages and over 1,000 distinct ethnic groups. Papua New Guinea has 3 official languages: English, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin.
An interesting aspect of PNG’s education revolves around theTution Fee Free (TFF) policy. It was introduced by the government in 2012 and has become its flagship policy. Free tuition is always perceived as a noble gesture. However, it is argued that while the TFF policy has helped improve access and strengthened school autonomy, recent policy reforms 
have threatened school-community relations, undermined school quality and weakened conditions for effective service provision. The TFF policy with its numerous backflips is no doubt fragile. In real terms, the allocation for the TFF subsidy has been declining since 2012, and there are concerns that the current fiscal crunch could squeeze subsidies further. There are numerous reports of TFF payments being released late, resulting in the board of education of PNG's largest province announcing that all schools in the province will be required to impose school fees to make up for shortfalls in TFF funding. It is difficult to know if the TFF and associated free education policies will continue for years to come, but the signs are not good given PNG’s worsening financial situation. Recently however, questions have been asked about whether the policy is unravelling, as accusations of mismanagement and questionable policy changes emerge. Despite these challenges, the TFF policy remains the longest running of the country’s four attempts to institute fee-free education. Research suggests policy makers now need to focus on the less politically popular aspects of education policy, such as improving
have threatened school-community relations, undermined school quality and weakened conditions for effective service provision. The TFF policy with its numerous backflips is no doubt fragile. In real terms, the allocation for the TFF subsidy has been declining since 2012, and there are concerns that the current fiscal crunch could squeeze subsidies further. There are numerous reports of TFF payments being released late, resulting in the board of education of PNG's largest province announcing that all schools in the province will be required to impose school fees to make up for shortfalls in TFF funding. It is difficult to know if the TFF and associated free education policies will continue for years to come, but the signs are not good given PNG’s worsening financial situation. Recently however, questions have been asked about whether the policy is unravelling, as accusations of mismanagement and questionable policy changes emerge. Despite these challenges, the TFF policy remains the longest running of the country’s four attempts to institute fee-free education. Research suggests policy makers now need to focus on the less politically popular aspects of education policy, such as improving
A Busy Classroom in PNG teacher quality and oversight and monitoring. It also means being brave enough to roll back policies that will harm education outputs, particularly moves to take even more funding away from schools through establishing District Education Implementation Committees (DEICs).
As the risk of not investing in education is too great to ignore, tackling challenges unique to this region are being taken up by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Click HERE to find out how!
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