HELP: Higher Education Loan Programme - New Fee Policy

PM Marape: Government taking the bigger burden off parents with tertiary loan scheme.

Approved for Release. 1st December 2019

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape says his Government is taking an even bigger burden off the shoulders of parents by introducing the K200 million students’ tertiary loan scheme in 2020.

He said this when addressing a full-house crowd at the Pacific Adventist University (PAU) graduation at its Koiari Park Campus outside Port Moresby today.

They applauded when Prime Minister Marape made the announcement.

“Next year onward, we will have the students’ loan programme,” he said.

“No more will you pay (tertiary) school fees.

“As long as you have NID (national identification) and residency as a Papua New Guinean, you will go and get money for your school fees.”

Prime Minister Marape said parents would pay 50 per cent of school fees from elementary to secondary school, with the Government to foot the balance, until students were ready for tertiary education.

He said the money would be parked under a programme known as HELP – Higher Education Loan Programme – “where we will have funding easily available to assist our students to pursue higher education”.

Prime Minister Marape said he had heard many people complaining, since the 2020 Budget was delivered last Thursday, about Government reducing funding for primary and secondary schools.

“I put it back to them: Which is most-burdensome? Is it high school or primary school education, or university and college education?” he said.

“I think university or college education is more-burdensome – that is where we are stepping in right now.” 

Prime Minister Marape said those who dropped out of Grades 8, 10 or 12 could be easily absorbed by vocational schools or SME training that would be made available.

“Government wants to do all of these things, but Government alone cannot do it,” he told the graduating students.

“Government and your country need an army of responsible citizens, who are out there making it happen for our country.

“I am sure I am speaking to an army of good citizens who have learned very well in your students, and spiritual upbringing here at PAU.”

SDG 4 Data at Your Fingertips with New Tools from the UIS

Quick guide and tools help countries, donors, technical partners and civil society groups make the most of SDG 4 data

REPOSTED from http://uis.unesco.org (DIRECT LINK)

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Where can you find the latest data to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4)? How are the indicators produced and how can they be interpreted and used? Go straight to the source with a series of new products developed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

As the custodian UN agency for SDG 4 data, the UIS not only has the mandate to produce the global monitoring indicators but also to help stakeholders – from countries and donors to civil society groups and technical partners - use the findings to get all children in school and learning by 2030.

Recognising that different users have different needs, the UIS is releasing a series of new products described below at a launch event with NORRAG on 11 July in Geneva.

The Quick Guide to Education Indicators for SDG 4 describes the process of developing and producing global monitoring indicators, while explaining how they can be interpreted and used. This is a hands-on, step-by-step guide for anyone who is gathering or analysing education data.

The SDG 4 Data Book: Global Education Indicators 2018 ensures that readers have the latest available data for the global monitoring indicators at their fingertips. This booklet will be regularly updated. 

The SDG 4 Data Explorer displays data by country, region or year; by data source; and by sex, location and wealth. It allows users to explore the measures of equality that are crucial for the achievement of SDG 4.

The SDG 4 Country Profiles, designed specifically for Member States, present the latest available SDG 4 global indicators in charts and graphs that are easy to understand. For those who need quick facts on specific countries, this is the place to come.

The SDG 4 Cheat Sheet is a quick reference for the definitions and data sources of the 11 global indicators.

  

These products aim to promote a better understanding of the production and use of SDG 4 data among stakeholders. Together, they will show stakeholders: who produces the data, how the indicators are developed, where to find the data, and – most importantly – how to use the information.  

What does it mean to be ranked 154/188 on the Human Development Index - PNG, Vanuatu, Fiji & Australia

UNDP, 2016

Australia

A Very Human High Development country with Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.939 out of high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 82.5 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 20.4 years, Mean School Years of 13.2 years, Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $42,822 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank of 19. Of the 188 HDI ranking, Australia was ranked 3rd in 2014 and moved one place up to 2nd in 2015.

Fiji

A High Human Development country. It has a HDI value of 0.736 out of a possible 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 70.2 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 15.3 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 10.5 years, GNI per capita of $8,245 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank of 20. Fiji was ranked 91 in 2014 and remained at 91 in 2015 among the 188 countries.

Vanuatu 

Vanuatu is categorised as a Medium Human Development country. Vanuatu has HDI value of 0.597 out of a high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 72.1 years, Expected Years of Schooling 10.8 years, Mean School Years of 6.8 years, GNI per capita of $2,805 (International Dollar) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank value of 23. Vanuatu ranked 134 in 2014 and remained unchanged at 134 out of the 188 countries on the HDI ranking.

Papua New Guinea

PNG was categorised as Low Human Development Country. PNG has HDI value of 0.516 out of a high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 62.8 years, Expected Years of Schooling at 9.9 years, Mean Years of Schooling at 4.3 years, GNI per capita of $2,712 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank value of 4. PNG HDI rank was 153 in 2014 but fell 1 place to 154 in 2015 out of the 188 countries ranked.

Comparison - some similarities 

1. Australia (VHHD), Fiji (HHD) and Vanuatu (MHD) have HDI value was near 0.6 or higher,
2. Life Expectancy at Birth above 70 years where Fiji and Vanuatu’s Life Expectancy at Birth were 70.2 years and 72.1 years respectively. 
3. Expected Years of Schooling for the three countries have an interval of 5 years with Australia at 20.4 years, Fiji at 15.3 years and Vanuatu at 10.8 years, 
4. GNI per capita about $3,000 (Vanuatu = $2,802) or more 
5. GNI per capita minus HDI rank value more approximately equal to 20. 
6. Fiji and Vanuatu DHI ranks have remained the same in 2014 and 2015 at 91 and 134, respectively. Australia’s HDI rank improve from 3rd in 2014 to 2nd in 2015.

 Contrast - some differences 

1. The difference between the Human Development Index (HDI) value of Australia and Fiji was 0.203 (0.939 – 0.736 = 0.203) and Australia and PNG was 0.423 (0.939 – 0.516 = 0.423) indicating a wide disparity between the VHHD – MDH and VHHD – LDH countries; 
2. The difference between the Life Expectancy at Birth of Australia and Fiji was 12.3 years (82.5 – 70.2 = 12.3 years) and Australia and PNG was 19.7 years (82.5 – 62.8 = 19.7 years another example of identifying disparity between the VHHD – MDH and VHHD – LDH countries;
3.  The difference between the Expected Years of Schooling in Australia and Fiji was 5.1 years (20.4 – 15.3 = 5.1 years) and Australia and PNG was 10.5 years (20.4 – 9.9 = 10.5 years)
4. The difference between the Mean School Year in Australia and Fiji was 2.7 years (13.2 – 10.5 = 2. 7 years) and Australia and PNG was 8.9 years (13.2 – 4.3 = 6.2 years);
5. The difference between the Gross National Income per capita in Australia and Fiji was $34,577 ($42,822 - $8,245 = $34,577) and Australia and PNG was $42 110 ($42,822 – 2,712 = $42,110) ; and 
6. The difference between the GNI per capita minus HDI rank in Australia and Fiji was -1 (19 – 20 = -1, Fiji higher value than Australia) and Australia and PNG was 15 (19 – 4 = 15). 

Summary 

The indicators for the VHHD, HHD and MHD countries showed relatively close similarities when the indicators of an MHD country was used, in this case Vanuatu. There were significant differences when the human development indicators from PNG (a LHD country) were differentiated again the indicators from VHHD and HHD countries. 

The HDI ranks for 2014 and 2015 showed that Australia improved by one place from 3rd to 2nd, Fiji retained its rank at 91, Vanuatu retained its rank at 134 and PNG’s rank dropped from 153 to 154.