Governance in Papua New Guinea

The Ministry for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology is responsible for the effective development of an education system that will enable the nation of Papua New Guinea’s future development. Other government education agencies include the Commission for Higher Education, which is responsible for coordinating and delivering higher education effectively within the allocated resources available. In terms of accreditation, foreign students must have credit passes at form IV level in English, mathematics and sciences in order to be considered for acceptance to the higher education institutions in the country.

Department of Education
Port Moresby
Tel: +675 301 3555
Minister: Nick Kuman

Office of Higher Education
Port Moresby
Tel: +675 301 2051
Minister: David Arore

The Papua New Guinea Vision 2050 sets out a vision for the long term development of the country. Education policy emphasises coordinated planning and implementation; efficient teacher deployment; and community involvement, towards the longer-term goals of compulsory education to Grade 8 and universal education to Grade 10.

In February 2012 the government began paying tuition fees for all students who enrol in schools from pre-school to Grade 10. In the same year the government undertook to subsidise the education of students attending Grades 11 and 12, whether in school or vocational centres or through open and distance learning.

Papua New Guinea qualified for the World Bank’s Fast Track Initiative – known since September 2011 as the Global Partnership for Education – which is aimed at meeting the education Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goal that by 2015 all children complete a full cycle of primary education.

Under the initiative, developing countries have committed to designing and implementing sound education plans since 2002, while development partners commit to aligning and harmonising additional support around these plans.

Papua New Guinea is one of the 35 countries implementing the UNESCO Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (2006-15), a strategic framework through which national governments, civil society, and bilateral and multilateral agencies collaborate to accelerate literacy programmes and support achievement of a 50 per cent improvement in national adult literacy rates by 2015.