Chapter 2

The Historical and Cultural Context of

Education in PNG

It has to be pointed out from the outset that it is both difficult and beyond the scope of this literature survey to describe in every detail the historical and cultural context of education in PNG. What is described in this chapter is however a highly condensed background providing only those significant contextual events and developments during the short history of educational development in PNG since its first contact with the outside world. Moreover, it has to be also noted that it is difficult to separate the historical factors from cultural factors of any particular traditional society because of their interwoven characteristics as reflected by this chapter.

2.1 Brief Historical and Cultural Background

Current anthropological and archaeological studies suggest that the ancestors of the present day peoples who occupy the New Guinea islands arrived in waves, separated by many centuries, down from the Malaysian peninsula through the islands of Indonesia to New Guinea. The first of these waves of migrants were Oceanic Negritos who then stopped at what is now Papua New Guinea (Ford, 1973; Lancy, 1983; Waiko, 1993). The second wave of migrants continued on to occupy the western islands of the South Pacific to become the Micronesian peoples while the third wave extended out to the eastern and southern islands of the Pacific to become the Polynesian peoples.

In terms of European contact with New Guinea, there is evidence suggesting sporadic visits mainly by traders, prospectors, explorers and scientists, after the first contact in 1526 by a Portuguese trader and navigator Jorge de Meneses anchoring off Geelvink Bay in what is now West Irian. Thus, Meneses is credited with naming the Wageo Island Papua, a term in Malay meaning ‘fuzzy-haired man’. On the other hand, Nova Guinea was named by De Retes in 1545 (Ford, 1973; Todd, 1974). It was not until the 1870s that Europeans commenced permanent settlements, mainly by British and German missionaries. In 1871, the London Missionary Society approached Papua from the Loyalty Islands via Torres Strait and by 1875 had its first missionary placed in Port Moresby while at Port Hunter on the Duke of York Islands, it was the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Missionary society who established its mission station in 1875. The Sacred Heart Mission on the other hand, established itself on Blanche Bay in New Britain and Yule Island in Papua, in 1882 and 1884 respectively. The Lutheran Mission for its part started mission work at Simbang near Finschhafen in 1886. The Anglican Mission, following an agreement concerning spheres of mission activity with the London Missionary Society, began its mission work at Dogura in 1891. Further north, on Tumleo Island off Aitape in 1896, the Mission of the Holy Ghost, of the Society of Divine Word, commenced its mission activity and later moved to Alexishafen near Madang (Ford, 1973).

It has to be pointed out however that, while the various mission societies from each of the above starting points steadily spread into the more densely populated parts of the coastlands within the main islands, penetration into the interior of these islands was somewhat slight until after the end of World War 2 in 1945. Because of the language diversity among various local communities, the missions introduced various lingua franca into their church services and used a simplified form of the Gospel to appeal to somewhat unsophisticated people. Some of these local vernaculars include among others, Kote and Yabem in the Huon Peninsula and around Huon Gulf; Tolai in the Gazelle Peninsula; Toaripi in the Kerema region; Pure Motu (distinct from Police Motu) in the coastal lands north and south of Port Moresby; and Widau and Suau in the Milne Bay region (Ford, 1973).

Today the indigenous inhabitants of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are commonly regarded as the members of the Melanesian culture. Although this culture in general has many features that are common, it is however made up of over 700 different subcultures each with its own living, distinct language (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993; Lancy, 1983). This makes PNG one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Subsequently, it has far reaching implications for education in general and in particular mathematics education. As Todd (1974) rightly pointed out:

Of all the factors which are likely to determine the unity and the rate of progress of the new nation none are more important than education and communications. Without education the democratic system of government with which Papua New Guinea is now experimenting can hardly function. And without an adequate system of communications this far-flung island realm must fall apart. (p. 113)

Given the above background, coupled with many obstacles such as those relating to the frontier work, language diversity and people living in scattered villages separated from each other by rivers, valleys and rugged mountains, the problems which the Australian administration has had to face in the two fields namely, education and communications, have been immense, let alone the initial problem of limited financial resources. Up until the outbreak of World War 2 little was done, in either case. However, in accepting the United Nations mandate to look after and to advance Papua New Guinea towards full independent nationhood, this extremely difficult responsibility became even more apparent (Kadiba, 1989; Todd, 1974).

2.2 Early Colonial Period 1905 - 1940

During the early colonial days prior to the 1940s, schooling was provided in a somewhat adhoc basis mainly by the Western Christian missionary societies from Great Britain and Germany, using one or more of the local vernaculars as the medium of instruction. Their main aim was to teach the local villagers to read the Bible and other religious material to make their work of Christianisation easier (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993; Waiko, 1993). To a lesser extent some Western agricultural and manual skills would also be included. There was some very basic arithmetic included as part of the syllabus but this was mainly of a practical nature. It was anticipated that students, after completing at the most 4 to 5 years of primary schooling, would in turn help the local villagers in the very basic literacy necessary for reading the Bible and other religious materials, and numeracy for manual skills as well as basic Western agriculture. At that time there was virtually no secondary education at all (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993).

Papua and New Guinea, as the name suggests, were administered separately by two different colonial powers up until 1946 and were respectively known at that time as British New Guinea and German New Guinea. Since then they have been administered jointly under Australian control in somewhat different ways and at different times. The former, a British Crown colony, was transferred to the new Commonwealth of Australia by Royal Letters Patent in 1902 and formally accepted when the Papua Act was proclaimed in Port Moresby on 1 September 1906. The latter, the German colony of Kaiser Wilhemsland, was ruled by a military administration for six years after it was captured by an Australian expeditionary force in 1914. It was first retained under civilian control as a class ‘C’ mandate under the League of Nations before becoming a Trust Territory under the United Nations in 1946 (Smith, 1989; West, 1966). Consequently, the differences in the method of their acquisition to a greater extent affected the way Australia was to rule the joint Territory during the period that followed in terms of inheriting the existing pattern of administration and limited infrastructure.

2.3 The Post World War 2 Period 1945 - 1960

The post-war period of the 1940’s witnessed the establishment of the Department of Education headed by the anthropologist educator W. C. Groves, uniting the two territories under a single Australian administration. Based on limited educational policy guidelines, Groves aimed at developing schools which had strong community involvement and a broad social welfare role as well as an educational role. As it turned out, this gave the indigenous people limited access to Western-style education with the result that by the late 1940s, there was not even a single university graduate among the two million people, of whom about 95 percent were still illiterate (Todd, 1974; Waiko, 1993). By then, nearly all the known established schools were still owned and operated by the missions. It was because of this, along with their willingness to continue or expand the provision of primary education, that the then administrator, Sir Hubert Murray agreed to subsidise the mission education. The policy of co-operation between various churches and the administration, particularly in terms of pooling the resources, was still pursued by Groves. However, by 1951 the educational programmes undertaken by both the administration and the missions had produced little result under the directorship of Mr Groves.

Following the criticism of Groves’ policies in 1955, the then Australian Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck, in addition to defining somewhat narrow legitimate educational activities, initiated the policy of universal primary education with an emphasis on English language instruction. Though the implementation of this policy was hampered by a shortage of qualified teachers, in-adequate teacher training facilities and a lack of school buildings and teacher accommodation, it was based on the belief that, before developing a network of post-primary schools, it was necessary that a strong network of primary schools be established (Waiko, 1993). This policy however was still pursued by G. T. Roscoe when he was appointed the second Director of Education in 1958. By the end of the decade, there was a significant improvement in both literacy and primary school enrolments. However, the secondary sector was still weak with the tertiary sector non-existent apart from the understaffed and underfunded teachers colleges (Waiko, 1993).

2.4 Transition to Independence 1961 - 1975

By the beginning of the 1960s, a changing political climate apart from the local and overseas pressure, in particular that from a visiting mission from the United Nations in 1962, led to the administration taking an increasingly direct and active role in providing general education resulting in an acceleration of activities (Ford, 1973). The United Nations mission criticised the administration’s education policy and urged:

the expansion of secondary, technical and higher education. Primary education which has advanced rapidly with large numbers of students in the first standards should concentrate on making the full primary course available in existing schools rather than on broadening the primary base by establishing new schools. Secondary and technical training should proceed at the fastest rate which the output of primary students will permit. To achieve the production targets of the development program, secondary level training should concentrate on the development of individuals who can contribute usefully to the agricultural, livestock and forestry programs, to other sectors of the economy, and to administration and the Public Service generally ... (cited from Waiko, 1993, p. 165).

If the above criticism is any indication, it meant that PNG’s political and economic progress and stability depended to a large extent on the number and the quality of men and women who had achieved standards higher than the primary level (Todd, 1974). It was because of such pressures that the administration began a programme of more rapid expansion, first in primary education and later in secondary and other educational fields including seeking greater control over their activities. It also called for the use of English as an official language of instruction in schools because of the belief that, despite the cultural and language diversity, this would foster national unity in a country comprising more than 700 different languages (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993; Ford, 1973; Spate, 1966; Waiko, 1993). On the other hand, the policy of conducting classes in English had a destructive effect on the culture of the people who received the education. It created a division between the school and the village life in which language is seen to be the major factor of this cultural gap. In some ways the policy also contributed to student alienation from their cultures as lamented by Paulias Matane:

Education has made me a foreigner to my own tradition, culture and beliefs ... I wish that my proud fathers could come back to me now, take me and transform me into one of them so that I would be like one of them - a colourful, articulate, skilful, proud, confident and brilliant man. But I have lost all these values because I went to school. (cited from Waiko, 1993, p. 130)

The above comment is no exception, even today in PNG, in terms of the feelings and views held by many of the people who received the Western (formal) education at the expense of their traditional education. It is an indication of the cultural alienation brought about by the colonial education policy which promoted English as a language in the 1950s and 1960s. Mathematics, which is seen as part and parcel of the formal Western education system, is no exception in this regard. Such sentiments are not uncommon, as reflected by the comments made by the then chairman of the first pilot project of a vernacular school on Buka Island in 1980. The chairman, who also received his education in English, in encouraging the establishment of vernacular schools in PNG as a means to instil village learning, commented that:

We must train our children in the history, values, and culture of our people. And we must use our language to teach them, for language is culture. If we truly understand our language, we can say that we truly understand our culture. Our language tells us our relationship to everything: to elders, to our parents, even to the sand, the rocks, the sea, and the stars. If my children are divorced from my own language, then I cannot teach them, and then my children will reject both my culture and me. (cited from Waiko, 1993, p. 131)

2.4.1 The establishment of UPNG and PNGUT

In 1962 Roscoe was replaced by Les Johnson as Director of Education and in 1963 C. E. Barnes replaced Hasluck as Minister for Territories. It was this decade that saw a very rapid expansion in both secondary and tertiary education (Waiko, 1993). The most important development was the set of recommendations by a Commission of Enquiry into the need for higher education in 1964. The recommendations included the establishment of a university by 1966, an institute of higher technical education, and the creation of a preliminary year and an external studies department at the university to assist potential graduates to overcome the disadvantages created by inadequate secondary education and geographical isolation. These recommendations were eventually accepted by the administration, paving the way for the establishment of The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in Port Moresby in 1966 with Dr John Gunther as its first vice-chancellor.

The Institute of Higher Technical Education was also established initially in Port Moresby. However, due to political objections to both major tertiary institutions being in one location, it was moved to Lae in the Morobe District (now Morobe Province). Subsequently, after moving to Lae it became the Institute of Technology and then, in 1967 became what is now called The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUT). The establishment of these tertiary institutions meant that there was a full range of educational facilities available from pre-school to tertiary level within PNG (Ford, 1973; Waiko, 1993). The first graduation of UPNG was held at the end of first semester 1970 and by 1971 the courses it offered to bachelor degree level included economics, anthropology and sociology, English language and literature, history, comparative religion, geography, political studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, earth sciences, biology, science and society, medicine, law and education. On the other hand, PNGUT aimed to provide both professional and para-professional courses at both degree and diploma level in a range of technical areas. Initial courses included civil engineering, surveying, accountancy, and business studies. In 1969 courses in mechanical and electrical engineering commenced with architecture and building technology introduced in 1970. By 1971 it had its first diploma graduates joining the work force and the first graduates in 1975 (Waiko, 1993).

The significant expansion of the tertiary sector had been made possible by the rapid introduction of secondary education under the guidance of the fourth Director of Education, Dr Ken Mckinnon, from 1966 to 1973. Consequently, there was a significant increase in the number of students qualified to enter secondary schools, eventually putting a heavy drain on the national budget in terms of providing teachers, buildings and facilities, all of which were boarding schools. Of particular concern was the supply of teachers, and although there was a substantial increase in the number of students undergoing teacher training, it however failed to keep pace with the increased secondary school enrolments with the result that there was a tendency to sacrifice quality for quantity of teacher graduates (Waiko, 1993).

2.4.2 The establishment of PNG Teaching Service

By the late 1960s, there was a skeletal national education system in place throughout the country, resulting not only from increased government intervention during the early part of the decade, but also from the increasingly rapid pace at which the country was preparing itself for independence from Australia. It was after the Weeden Committee’s recommendation for the implementation of a national system of education in 1969 (Ford, 1973) that legislation introduced in 1970 saw a restructuring of the organisation and control of education. This legislation established a Papua New Guinea Education System and a Papua New Guinea Teaching Service. This eventually made it possible for the merging of Administration and mission schools under a single national education system leading to the teaching services being combined. The then national education system comprised of six years of primary school at the village level which was then followed by secondary schooling at the regional level for the few high academic achievers (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993). It was also at this time that the main aim of education changed from preparing young people for rural development to the one of educating the elite who would be able to lead the new country. As a result the school program changed from a focus of what would be useful at the village level, to what the country immediately needed. Hence the policy of teaching in the local vernacular adopted by mission schools was changed to the government enforced policy of teaching in the official language of English. Consequently, the status of mathematics, which was always seen to be one of the important subjects in the Western curriculum, also changed to become one of the most central features of curriculum development activities in PNG (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993).

The secondary school curriculum closely followed the basic curriculum taught in Australian schools, being comprised of the core subjects of English language and literature, mathematics, general science, history, and geography. Although practical subjects such as woodwork, agriculture and commerce were taught in some schools, on the whole there was little attempt made to adapt the content of the curriculum to the needs of PNG students. Thus in many ways it was considered to be inappropriate. On the other hand, because it was modelled on the Australian system, it was found to be helpful by those students coping with the demands of entering the Western-style tertiary institutions which also followed the Australian model, after completing their secondary education (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993; Waiko, 1993).

2.4.3 The Eight Point Plan

During the period of self-government and independence in the 1970s, although both the government and the people shared the view that more education was vital for the country’s development, they however differed greatly in terms of the perception of education. The government, in using the Second Five Year Plan as the basis for social and economic policy (commonly known as the Eight Point Plan), pursued twin goals of universal primary education and access to education for as many people as possible under the leadership of the then Chief Minister Michael Somare (Turner, 1990; Waiko, 1993). During a public address to the Economics Society of the University of Papua New Guinea in March 1973, Mr Somare, after tabling the Eight Aims in Parliament, stated that:

As a first step in this new program, my Government has adopted a set of Eight Aims to guide our planning in the coming years. These aims, . . . are as follow:

1. A rapid increase in the proportion of the economy under the control of Papua New Guinean individuals and groups and in the proportion of personal and property income that goes to Papua New Guinea.

2. More equal distribution of economic benefits, including movement toward equalisation of incomes among people and toward equalisation of services among different areas of the country.

3. Decentralisation of economic activity, planning and government spending, with emphasis on agriculture development, village industry, better internal trade, and more spending channelled to local and area bodies.

4. An emphasis on small-scale artisan, service and business activity, relying where possible on typically Papua New Guinean forms of economic activity.

5. A more self-reliant economy, less dependent for its needs on imported goods and services and better able to meet the needs of its people through local production.

6. An increasing capacity for meeting government spending needs from locally raised revenue.

7. A rapid increase in the active and equal participation of women in all forms of economic and social activity.

8. Government control and involvement in those sectors of the economy where control is necessary to achieve the desired kind of development. (cited from Samana, 1988, p. 75-76)

Thus, from the outset it was clear that the official view was that education should be motivating and equipping people for work in their own communities rather than the means to securing a wage-paying job in the public or private sectors (Turner, 1990). In other words, while the government acknowledged that both secondary and tertiary education were necessary to provide a skilled workforce and to promote localisation, it however regarded those skills required for rural development as being the most important, in particular, the emphasis on agriculture (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993). This somewhat liberal perception of education as preparation for rural life was not shared by the majority of the population who tended to adopt, as Turner (1990) called, “a more instrumental hard-headed approach” (p. 77). Such mentality is well-expressed in the following quote from the report of a 1986 committee seeking a philosophy of education for Papua New Guinea:

I send my son to school to learn new things. With that knowledge he will be able to get employment with either the Public service or with a big private company. He will earn big money and send me some of it every pay day. I will not have to work hard any more in the gardens, and I will be very happy.

(cited from Turner, 1990, p. 77)

In Papua New Guinea, as in many developing countries, individuals see education in terms of social mobility and economic returns for the family. Such a perception of education by individuals is however no surprise, since there are sound statistical grounds for this point of view (Turner, 1990). Thus the notion that higher levels of education provide access to higher levels of financial return is no exaggeration in the case of Papua New Guinea. In reality however, such a perception is increasingly made difficult from an economic base of subsistence farming (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993).

2.5 The Two Decades of Nationhood: 1975 -1995

It is worthwhile to point out that, although there were a number of changes in the government from the date of self-government in 1973 to November of 1986 when the current philosophy of education for PNG was adopted, most of the educational policies developed during that time were somewhat guided by the Eight Aims announced by Mr Somare in 1973. Furthermore, while there had been no major changes, either in the overall policy or in the structure of both the technical education and the teacher training systems in PNG (Todd, 1974), the key underlying policies which governed education in PNG during that time have been:

· to develop a system of education fitted to the needs of PNG and its people;

· to set up standards of education throughout the country;

· to make the benefits of education as widely available as possible. (Todd, 1974, p. 114)

As noted earlier, the current framework of the education system which was adopted at independence in 1975 retained a number of colonial features, of which many can be traced back to Australian practice (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993). The primary level, which is often based at the village level, is of a six-year duration with children enrolling at the age of seven. The second level comprises of provincial high schools which are usually regional schools that run a four-year program. After year 10 the system has a number of branches. Year 10 exit students can enter one of the four national high schools that run a two-year program oriented towards tertiary studies. They also have the option of entering a vocational training centre, a technical school, or one of the various training colleges run by specific national government ministries such as the Administrative College or one of the Community (Primary) Teachers Colleges. The entry to one of the two universities including Goroka Campus of UPNG (formerly Goroka Teachers College) is restricted to graduates of national high schools with a Year 12 higher school certificate or its equivalent (Clarkson & Kaleva, 1993).

2.5.1 The philosophy of education for PNG

The current philosophy of education for PNG was developed initially as a Ministerial Committee Report under the chairmanship of Sir Paulias Matane which was eventually adopted by Parliament in November 1986 in its current form. Its most fundamental principle is the notion of Integral Human Development. Thus, in adopting this philosophy of education, the PNG Department of Education somewhat implicitly assumed the following working definitions:

integral, in the sense that all aspects of the person are important;

human, in the sense that social relationships are basic; and

development, in the sense that every individual has the potential to grow in knowledge, wisdom, understanding, skill and goodness. (Matane, 1986, p. 6)

In short, it is based on the five National Goals and Directive Principles found in the National Constitution which recognise the importance of:

Integral Human Development

Equality and Participation

National Sovereignty and Self-Reliance

Natural Resources and Environment

Papua New Guinea Ways (Matane, 1986, p. 7)

Compatible with the above definition, the practical implications for education in PNG therefore mean that the type of education provided to the young people (learners), in terms of its learning methods and environment, must take into account the following basic issues concerning every learner namely, socialisation, participation, liberation, and equality.

Socialisation in the sense that each citizen must recognise the appropriate social relationships required for interaction with the family, the local community, other interest groups, people from other parts of the country and nations.

Participation is considered important because it is only through effective participation that an individual can play a role in development and in overcoming fear and identifying oppression.

Liberation means to free oneself from every form of oppression leading to a sense of worth and dignity as human being.

Equality means that every citizen has the opportunity to take part in the spiritual, social, physical/economic and political life of a country. Equality does not mean that all persons should be treated in the same way because individuals greatly differ in their needs and capacities. (Matane, 1986, p. 10-12)

It has to be pointed out that one of the key features of the current philosophy is the emphasis it places on the importance of integrating the traditional or cultural ways into the prescribed curriculum. In brief, within the context of ‘Integral Human Development’, the overall emphasis of the current philosophy of education is well-expressed by the Committee chairman himself in his introductory remarks:

The education of a child is a shared responsibility. It starts at home with the parents. If the parents are good then the child is off to a good start. Next comes the school. The teacher must have a good education and training and must set a good example, be creative and have some vision of the purpose of education. The teacher transmits knowledge and integrates the teaching programme in order to interest and motivate the child. The teacher who cannot or does not do this should not be a teacher. The third influence on the child is the church which should place emphasis on the moral and ethical training of the child. The fourth is the community which promotes the socialisation of the child. From the community the child learns the culture, traditions and can develop positive attitudes to life there. If the community is bad, then the child is also likely to become bad during adult life. Political, business and community leaders are also examples for the child. What they do and say influences the behaviour of the child. (Matane, 1986, p. 1)

2.5.2 The major educational structural reform

It is worthwhile to point out that it was the early 1990s that saw major structural reform taking place in nearly all levels of the education system. Firstly, in terms of teacher education and training, it was at the beginning of 1991 that the Community (Primary) Teachers College commenced offering a three-year program leading to the award of Diploma in Primary Teaching with their first diploma graduates joining the teaching force at the beginning of the 1994 school year. In the period prior to 1991, only a two-year teacher training course leading to the award of the Primary School Teaching certificate was offered. On the other hand, the only secondary teacher training institution in PNG, namely Goroka Campus of UPNG, prior to 1995, had only offered a three-year program leading to the award of the Diploma in Secondary Teaching. However, by the beginning of the 1995 academic year, it commenced offering a four-year program leading to the award of Bachelor of Education (Secondary Teaching), mainly as a result of the current government’s policy on rationalisation of higher education sector. Subsequently, many of the education courses which were previously offered at the Waigani Campus of UPNG in Port Moresby have now been transferred to Goroka Campus with its first degree students graduating in 1998.

Secondly, it was also in 1991 that the national Government, through the National Department of Education (NDOE), requested the setting up of the Education Sectoral Review Committee (ESRC). The Committee’s main task was to conduct a review into all sectors of the education system and make recommendations to the Government for its approval and subsequent implementation. The recommendations included structural changes to general education services with the most significant ones involving: (a) the incorporation of elementary (preparatory) classes into the formal system; (b) the addition of grades 7 and 8 to primary (community) schools; and (c) the addition of grades 11 and 12 to secondary (provincial high) schools. (Simpson, 1994; Zepp, Matang & Sapau, 1994).

The main reason for these changes is based on the assumption that it would increase accessibility, thereby achieving the Government’s aim of providing universal primary education by the Year 2000. Subsequently, the first recommendations was implemented at the beginning of 1993, which saw the setting up of two pilot secondary schools in two provinces, namely Madang and West New Britain, with their first grade 12 students graduating in 1994. As one would expect, the implementation of other recommendations has been slow, and as in many other developing nations, are subject to availability of both financial and human resources, let alone the politics of such major changes among the key players involved in the business of education.