ABSTRACT: Though
much has been written about the successes and failures of the Tuition Fee-Free Education(TFFE) policy in Papua New Guinea (PNG), there is a need for an in-depth discussion on
sustaining the policy not only now, but also in the future. This paper argues
that the sustainability of TFFE policy is an important development issue. In
particular, it attempts to discover how the National Department of Education
(NDoE) aligns its sectorial strategies (and medium-term development plans) with the department’s vision, mission, objectives and goals.
It
is essential that planning (both strategic and operational) by past and current
governments focuses on the continuity of TFFE policy. The paper uses literature
review and online data to discuss the issue of TFFE sustainability. It gives details
of policy timing, political parties and duration of the policy by comparing
past to current experiences; discusses sectorial strategic plan and medium-term
development plans relating to the policy; and also presents data analysis of TFFE
fund allocations. The paper also uses percentages and average values to compare
and contrast specific data relevant to support the findings.
There
are two important findings. Firstly, the ruling political parties in 1981, 1993
and 2002 announced the implementation of free education policy just before the national
general elections. The earlier attempts lasted less than 18 months because of the
change in governments. Secondly, the data revealed a lack of TFFE funding consistency
in the last decade. ‘Political will’ in the last five years was remarkably
high. This raised the question to the sustainability of the TFFE policy in
Papua New Guinea in the long term.
You can download the Tuition Fee Free Education Policy in PNG PDF here (⇒ PDF download)
Declaimer: All attempts have been made to ascertain the factuality of information presented in this academic paper. Please, let the writer know if there is anything you wish to point out in the comment section. You can use the Contact Form or Twitter (Follow @PNG_Insight).
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