The need for educational reform and the role of teacher training: The case of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This paper examines the current problems of educational provision in Papua New Guinea which occupied the attention of the 1991 Education Sector Review. These problems include the failure both to achieve universal primary enrolment and to retain primary children entrants over the six year cycle, the limited uptake of upper secondary and higher education opportunities, especially by girls, and the inadequacy of present arrangements for vocational education. The proposals of the 1991 Review are then described concentrating on changes to the educational structure, reforms in the primary school curriculum and the changes, which have already been initiated, to the length and organization of teacher training.