Education Partnership for PNG Secondary Schools - Aust and PNG

The education parnership for secondary schools was launched by the Australian Foreign Minister and Minister for Women, Marise Payne during her recent visit to Papua New Guinea.

Launching of AustPNG Sec Sch Pa

The Australian Foreign Minister said in one of her tweets that

'This important program will strengthen our education links between schools and students in #Australia and #PNG. 🇦🇺🇵🇬'

Detail of the PNGAus Secondary Schools Partnership Program - reposted -

The PNGAus Partnership Secondary Schools initiative is a unique opportunity for Australian secondary schools to partner high performing Papua New Guinean secondary schools.

This program aims to strengthen relationships between Papua New Guinean and Australian secondary schools to deepen people-to-people links and build secondary education capabilities in STEM, English and student agency.

12 Secondary Schools Partnership 

The pilot initiative will see 12 high performing secondary schools in Papua New Guinea and 12 secondary schools in Australia engaged in reciprocal immersion experiences in PNG and Australia during 2019 and 2020.

The program will involve three phases; pre-departure, in-country and post-trip, which will include:​

• ​​formal professional learning for teachers collaborative projects amongst schools student leadership initiatives; and
• a reciprocal in-school component with delegation from partner schools.

This initiative  has been developed under the PNG-Australia bilateral partnership as a new school education initiative enhancing engagement between PNG and Australian schools.

The PNGAus Partnership Secondary Schools initiative is fully funded by the Australian High Commission in PNG to support schools to stimulate their curiosity, understanding and interest in engaging more deeply with Australia.

Benefits for Schools

The initiative aims to develop intercultural skills, student leadership capacity and personal connections amongst counterparts.

The three key objectives of PNGAus Partnership Secondary Schools initiative are:

• improve secondary school education capabilities in targeted areas
• build student empowerment through the development of leadership skills and an expanded world view; and 
• strengthen the public diplomacy between the two countries. 

NRI: PNG SCHOOLS HAVE GREAT ACCESS BUT LACK QUALITY

Papua New Guinea currently has 7298 elementary schools and 3543 primary schools throughout the country.

NRI | Facebook

The National Research Institute's Universal Basic Education Program Leader Dr Kilala Devette-Chee told Prime Minister James Marape during a recent visit to the Institute that despite this huge number there are only 219 secondary schools and 114 TVET and vocational schools.

Dr. Devette-Chee says this clearly indicates that while there are more students having an access to education, the available tertiary institutions are not able to cater for all of them.

She says while the Tuition fee free policy has greatly improved access to education for children, the quality is lacking and it is something that must be addressed immediately by the Government.

Meantime, findings from a research conducted by the National Research Institute's Universal Basic Education program shows that although there is a good increase in the access and retention of children for education in the country, there is more to be done to improve the quality aspect of it.

Dr Kilala Devette-Chee says this was revealed through the Institute's bi-annual provincial and district profiles, from which a nation-wide research study was done and completed in December.

Dr. Kilala Devette-Chee says from this study, review is now being conducted into the UBE system for the four regions of the country and it should be completed in December or early next year.

Picture Source: National Research Insitute via NBC PNG News Facebook page