School Reform in PNG: Reforming Home, School and Society - an Academic's Book Worth Reading

The book is an academic's view on School reform in Papua New Guinea. It looks into children, parents and family as the building block of true school reform.

Titled School Cultures: Powerful Mediums to Transform Individuals, Schools and Societies, the book addresses family, classroom and school as the main setting for powerful reformation of the school culture.

To buy the book, contact details are provided below. A must-read book for parents, teachers, school administrators and provincial and national education officers.

Facebook/Dr K. K. MALPO

Here is an original post from the author...

"A holistic approach to School Reforms" is what Dr. K. Kelep-Malpo's latest book on "School cultures: Powerful mediums to transform individuals, schools and societies" brings out.

Parents, especially young parents and families of today must buy as the point on "Homes and families being the first institutions of character building is substantially discussed.

Parents are further urged to train their children to make Quality Decisions whilst under their care before they leave home.

Graduates with Character come out of schools where strong Christian values, beliefs and practices like Retreats,TSCF, Scripture Union etc are encouraged.

Classrooms as Engine rooms where future architects of society are made, must be well catered for, for PNG's robust and quality workforce.

Head teachers with visions to transform schools are needed for PNG's schools today.

It is a must buy book for School boards & administration plus provincial authorities for holistic and not piecemeal reforms.

You can purchase this book from Dr. K. Kelep-Malpo (72328963) email address: malpokapa@gmail.com or Moses Elias - POM (70454290) email address; emson72.me@gmail.com.

Re-posted from the author's Facebook page.

The Most Important System: Future Of Our Nation Depends On Its Education System - PNG

A response to a parent's concern:

Analysing the Education System From Within

David, it is worrying to see our education system - the system we've  gone though - has been battered over time. Your observation should be a concern for every parent. We know that education is our  future, our children are our future. The education system is the MOST important system in the country. 

Any change within the system must be backed by proper research and planning. Lack of it has resulted  in regression as evident today. 

Education leaders and politicians who are responsible for the education to the people have to start asking questions. 

They have to find answers to the questions: What can be done to improve the education system from here on? Will the change in structure and curriculum improve the education system? Will the planned phasing out of Gr 8 exams improve standard of examinations? Will the infrastructure developments bring better change? Have we seen an improvement in standard of education  through the government's Free Education policy?

I think there is no magic bullet. The deteriorating education standard we see today has resulted from years of unplanned and ill-advised policies. It is now time to ask ourselves 'what went wrong' and fix it.

Being Specific About What Needs to Be Changed - Positive Change

 We need to be specific when we talk about change. There are many changes going on at the mo. What 'good' change do we want to see? A good change (in my opinion) that is happening is the curriculum change OBE to SBE. Another good change also happening (but at a very slow pace) is government acting on Ganim's Report 12 recommendations. What else needs to be done to improve the system of education?

Proper Researches and Reviews Must be Happen prior to Changes in Education System

In April/May 2014 a parliamentary committee on education (PRCE) was investigating and reporting on teacher's appointment process, salary & remuneration (leave fares), functions of TSC and NDoE. The review was done at a time when teachers were having problems with leave fares. The government accepted the review and its 12 recommendations in January this year and allocated over K7.8 million to fund its implementation. Having followed development in education closely, I think this is the best thing the govt has done. But, I have yet to see the result on the ground though it has been nearly 10 months since the govt has accepted the review in principle. Here is the link to the stories I have been following http://goo.gl/YkkqzO

Ganim Report Is An Example of a Proper Review

The report recommends:

1. Review of functions and responsibilities of the DoE and Teaching Services Commission (TSC) in the Management of teachers’ salaries and entitlements.

2. TSC to review Teaching Services Act 1988 Section 9.

3. Review of relevant sections of the Teaching Service and Education Acts on appointment policies and procedures with the view to transfer off powers and functions to the Provincial Education Board.

4. Extension of tenure appointment from current three years to five years.

5. Review of ALESCO pay system enabling it to accommodate processing of all salaries and entitlements.

6. Transfer of full ALESCO Pay System and powers to the Provincial Education Board.

7. Payment of teachers’ leave fares direct into their accounts.

8. Annual teacher manpower update to be conducted in the first quarter of the school year.

9. TCS to assume financial autonomy as a separate entity of State as per the Teaching Services Act 1988.

10. Review of policy, process and procedures in the administration of retrenchment, retirement and resignation of teachers.

11. Review of a centralized modern electronic teacher information database that is easily available for provincial education authorities and other relevant stakeholders to have access.

12. Review of the TCS administrative and manpower structural requirements and resourcing the Commission, enabling it greater autonomy to effectively and efficiently administer and regulate powers and functions.

4500 Spaces at Tertiary Institutions in PNG are Susceptible to Bribery

According to the Papua New Guinea Education Secretary, 21430 Grade 12 students have sat the national examinations this year. Dr Tapo also revealed that only 4500 spaces are available for the academic year 2015 at all higher learning institutions. That means that 20% of students in Grade 12 will be considered for universities and colleges throughout the country.

Tiri Kuimbaku's photo | Sharp Talk (Click to view discussion)

This article featured in PNG Attitude

The drop-out figure could be more than 80% (16730). Take a look at the data and facts presented. The irregularities are pretty shocking!

English and Literature (E&L) exam are compulsory/mandatory for all students. That means that if 21430 students have sat for the examinations, the same number should ALSO do the E&L exam. Unfortunately, the real number that sat the exam was put down to only 17236. So, who are those  4194 (i.e. 21430 - 17236) students?

In fact, the same number (21430) should also have sat for Mathematics examinations. The department statistics showed that 7091 students sat for Maths A and 13191 Maths B. That gives a total of 20282. Who are 1148 (21430 - 20282) students, where is their place in the total given by Dr Tapo?

Numbers presented by the secretary do not actually add up when we are talking about only 4500 spaces. 

Take, for instance, the difference between the total of grade 12 students given by the secretary (21430) and those sitting E&L (17236) is about the same as the number of spaces available from tertiary institutions, i.e. 4500 available spaces vs 4194 unaccounted students sitting the exams.

In the Maths exams, there are 1148 students who are suspiciously unaccounted for. We are talking about numbers in the thousands when there are only 4500 places. The odds indicated that dropout figures for this year could be more than what initially thought.

As a matter of clarification, students doing code, distance study or resitting exams could have been included. 

But, even if they are included the irregularity is in the thousand and so there is a stiff competition between the 'known' and 'unknown' students, the accounted and the unaccounted. That means that more than 4000 students who are not attending a formal secondary school are also vying for one of the 4500 spaces.

Fair enough. But, the secretary for education should make this clear in his reporting. He is presenting figures that do not reflect the actual situation. How many students are not from the mainstream education system? At least put some meaning into the numbers.

The irregularities in numbers do indicate extra students are included in the total competing for the limited spaces. So who are they? We don't know. The point is: if 4000 students from the mainstream secondary school are competing for the 4000 spaces with another 4000 'ghost' students, the NET competition is zero.

In reality, those 4500 spaces are susceptible to bribery, manipulation and foul-play of all sorts. So, who suffers here?  Those poor students who have spent the best part of their 12 years in the formal education stood little or no chance against a manipulative (unaccounted) lot. 

The Papua New Guinea Department of Education needs to collect relevant and accurate data from schools around the country. The secretary analysis must base on factual data. He must not spit out data to the media when the numbers are flawed.

Make no mistake. The unambiguous numbers can have a dramatic effect on mainstream students - those young 18 and 19 years old. It is unfair to mistreat one student in the selection process, let alone thousands of them. 

END: PNG education system is producing 80 - 90% dropouts at Grade 12 every year. Yet, the government does not have accurate data to help sort out this problem.

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With only 1 in 5 PNG students able to get into tertiary education, there is fear that this will induce corruption http://t.co/jmCIy9j35g
— Keith Jackson (@PNGAttitude) October 26, 2014