Thoughts on Effective Education Output in PNG

 (Theonila Roka's major proposal...)

The Educational history of Papua New Guinea documents numerous innovative efforts by the planners and education administrators of the country. Many commissions and committees have repeatedly stressed the significances of quality teacher training and education but have not proposed practical ways that can substantiate the quality of education in Papua New Guinea which can be shown through the students produced by the educational institutions in the country, both in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Proposed here are four possible ways which can help the country’s education system to achieve the quality education output as desired.

(i)                 QUALITY AND THE QUANTITY OUTPUT.

Quality refers to essential or distinctive characteristic of a person and quantity refers to the amount of something (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quality). Since the discussion is on education quality refers to the essential characteristic of a teacher and quantity refers to the number of teachers at a particular place and time. Quality and quantity teachers in Papua New Guinea at all educational institutional levels: primary, secondary and tertiary.

Papua New Guinea still has certificate teachers in the country and it is not bad practice. However, there is a problem with inspections and in-service for the certificate teachers. One of the excellent things observed about certificate teachers is that they teach the students with love which is the basic virtue any educator has to posses. Now it goes back to the ministry of Education and the division of Education in all the provinces, certificate teachers’ in-services should be conducted in all the provinces to help the certificate teachers improve their teaching skills.

In doing so, the diploma teachers graduating can teach under the supervision of the certificate teachers; two things can be learnt here by the diploma teachers. Firstly that teaching is a humble profession that requires a teacher to teach with love and secondly that teaching is not for money but for service for a prosperous nation building.  An inexperienced teacher can be motivated, molded and shaped and be set towards the right career path by an experienced certificate teacher.

Quantity Output should not be the education department’s grave concern. Instead the education Department must work towards producing quality teachers prior to it conversing for the quantity of teaching force.

Currently there is a lack of substance knowledge to enhance the teachers’ pedagogical skills in the field. In the simplest language, there is no motivation in the current teaching force as it was in the past when the missions were dominating the education of Papua New Guinea.

(ii)               REQUIREMENT OF THE GREAT POINT AVERAGE

From general observation and the requirements of academic results in terms of eligibility of students going in to teaching colleges in Papua New Guinea is very low. Not only the colleges but even to University of Goroka. The ones who go through the selections done by the office of Higher education are quite good but the problem comes when selecting the ones known despite considering the great point average they score.

The matriculation from grades eight and ten pull outs finally make their way into teachers colleges. This is a grave path for Papua New Guinea’s downfall. Teachers produced in this way are complete disaster for nation building. Being a student taught in two primary grades by such teachers I can confidently criticize because it is the teacher who will fail the with the lack of knowledge in sentence structuring and pronunciation. In addition to that, these kinds of teachers are not motivating; they do not have knowledge on how to handle students with different paces of learning in the same class.

The ministry of Education should discourage this practice in the country by elevating the GPA’s of students applying into teachers colleges and also behavioral reports for the applying students should be thoroughly examined. All students from distant matriculation centers applying to the teachers colleges should go through the office of higher education for assessment. Otherwise, students from matriculation centers should be directly accepted in the technical colleges.

The minimum GPA for students applying into colleges should be 2.5 and above. If only the GPA of the teaching personnel’s is high there will be confidence that teachers are professionally accepted in their fields. It would also be a good idea because students will always depend on how much insights the teachers can give to the students and that is where the motivation lies. The more insights given to students the more the students will be psychologically motivated to prioritize their education for the good of their future.

Moreover, selection of teachers should depend on the career interest meaning that it must be the student’s deepest desire to become a teacher. This is one of the things that are lacking the current teacher education system, where by many students from secondary schools apply into teachers colleges with the fear of not securing a place in the universities and other colleges.

Thus, when they join the teaching force they are reluctant to teach in the rural areas, they are not up to date with their lessons. Worst of all they criticize the citizens of the communities they serve.

                                                                                                                                                                     

(iii)             PROGRAMMES DESIGN

In grades eleven and twelve history is one of the subjects taught in the curriculum of the Papua New Guinea education system. This is not a bad idea, but how rational is it to know another person’s history without knowing your own history. Students learn western History in secondary schools and when they go into tertiary institutions the students are taught to focus on PNG. Also the history taught to the secondary school students is ambiguous because the causes (or the roots) of the history such as world wars are not clearly taught.

It would be a good idea to design subjects in a way that will meet and address the needs of the communities served, meaning that teachers should have a clear knowledge about the background of the programmes they teach. The designers of the subject taught should analyze the needs before designing the units as well.

Going back to history I believe that PNG can make a difference in terms addressing the issues of regionalism if PNG history can be a subject taught throughout the country. This subject can help the students to understands why certain people in PNG behave the way they do, because has a matter of fact observation and socialization alone cannot help the students understand each other’s culture for a country with more than 800 languages and way of life.

Then, the western history we learn should be incorporated into Religious Education because it is from the church the modern world history emerged. Religious Education is a very interesting course which requires people who have knowledge about the Church history to teach. Social and Religious studies students of Divine Word University can be engaged to teach this unit although the country.

A common problem this subject can address in PNG is the criticism among Church. All these problems are occurring in the country dividing the Christians because Christians do not know the background of the Churches’ histories.

Looking at the jobs demand today in Papua New Guinea, our country is in dire need of researchers. Any independent state should have at least over four thousand researchers. All the plans made should come from the findings presented by the researchers. Thus research should be effectively taught in the universities despite the student’s area of studies.

To sum Papua New Guinea should set a standard criterion for subject design upon need the need of the country to reduce institutional duplication and competition that would lead to problems in the near future. In doing so the education ministry would produce teachers who would work under less supervision. This will also help in the quality and quantity supply of teaching personals in the country when experienced teachers motivated the inexperienced ones and putting them into their right career paths.

(iv)              MOTIVATION

All the teachers colleges in the country should provide and an environment conducive for learning, meaning that the learning facilities should be good. Libraries in the teaching colleges should be in line with the advancement. The management of the school should use their initiative to develop colleges own business arm to generate money for themselves instead of depending heavily on the government to do everything.

This are some of the ways that can boost the morale of the teacher trainees so whenever they go into the teaching field they will always have something to take pride in and give their best in the teaching career.

Take for example Divine Word University, students despite the food provided in the mess for four years work with pride as once students of this university. It is because they are motivated through the advancement in technology, the issue of the laptops and the best library in the country with reliable staff. When students go into their professional fields they do not see the food as factor that can take the pride away.

Comparing university of Papua New Guinea and University of technology to Divine Word University, the graduates of the other universities are not as active as the graduates of Divine Word University because there is no motivation. The pride which they have is firm because it is coming out from the commitment of the management and the staffs of the university itself and the government supports what the institution does.

If the students in the teachers colleges are motivated in the same way, their students would graduate in flying colors and never would take defeat the high morale.

·         Commonwealth Secretariat (2009),  Commonwealth Education Partnerships ,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

·         http://www.iaccp.org/drupal/sites/default/files/spetses_pdf/41_Nelson.pdf

·         http://directions.usp.ac.fj/collect/direct/index/assoc/D1175709.dir/doc.pdf

A DAY TO REMEMBER: TOASTMASTERS GRADUATION

WHAT A DAY TO REMEMBER BEING CERTIFIED FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING BY DIVINE WORD UNIVERSITY...22 SEPTEMBER 2012

WITH THE VICE PRESIDENT OF DIVINE WORD UNIVERSITY- STUDENTS AFFAIRS..

IT'S A STEP FORWARD...TO ACCOMPLISH MY DREAM THAT IS TO LIVE A LIFE BETTER THAN WHAT I'VE FOUND....

BEFORE THE GRADUATION.....SMELLLLLLLLL...

BEST OF FRIENDS.....

SOME GOOD MOTIVATORS IN MY LIFE.............

That was the most memorable moment of my life when i was certified a public speaker with 26 other students in 2012. Taking the podium in front the academics in a greatest achievement of my life.!!!!

Conflict Resolution-OKAY HOUSE

 ( In conflict resolution there is a model used to identify the causes that triggers problems making a particular person to act in a manner he or she does. Thus I have written it about myself to help my readers reflect on theirs.)

 I will discuss my belonging in the room of the OK house from childhood. Generally speaking it looks like I have occupied rooms two to four at certain stage of my growing up. I believe that all these happen was due to the kind of childhood upbringing and the environment in which I was raised up in. Sometimes I question myself because of the Christian teaching by prophet Jeremiah which states that we planned by God before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs. Thus, I believe that my belonging in the different rooms of the OK was also planned by God before my conception.

Firstly, from the conception to birth I was in room three. That was because when my mother conceived for me my father never accepted me. It was not my parents’ aspiration to have me as their child. My mother upon my father’s advice attempted abortion on me which never worked. My no good relationship with my mother started ever since. On my date of birth my mother almost died so the doctors performed cesery in order to save my mother and myself.

As a growing up person I did not have a good relationship with my mother. My mother thinking that I developed this disrespectful behavior from my friends beats me to death consistently. I was stuck in your okay and I am not okay room. Well I don’t blame my mother for that because that was the result of her undereducated background.

I was enrolled in school at the age of six and there I moved into the room 2 of the okay house. There, I started beating my female classmates for lame reasons like teasing and swearing. I continued that kind of behavior up until grade ten in formal education. Things went bad to worse when I went into secondary school I did not have a good relationship with my classmates, my teachers and my mother who was a widow by then. My state of life deteriorated where I was almost suspended from school when I set fire in my own classroom. I faced the disciplinary committee which led to my gating. It was humiliating for me to walk around on the campus with folders for the teachers and the principle to sign after every 40 minutes of the day. My mother and my older siblings did not know that I am that kind of a child. I had a wolf under sheep’s coating attitude.

When I go home for term breaks I am a down to earth person in my mother’s sight. But easily I humble way started to change and the reality of a violent Theonila Roka started to come out clear. My families witnessed my wickedness for the first time when I stabbed my cousin’s boyfriend with a screwdriver. With the wickedness I came to Divine Word University to take up Social and Religious studies.

The unit General Psychology helped me to understand a lot about myself. It even helped to find out the reasons why I act the way I do and why I hate my own mother. I made the most out of that unit so it helped my changed. From room two I am slowly moving into room one. Although it is very difficult to change I am trying my best to make it my business to change. Now I have even come to realize the cause of my mischief gone bad to worse because of my dad’s involuntary departure to grave, that traumatized me even more.

Reflecting at my own life I realized that I usually thought that I was physically smart as man. However, I never understood that my mischief was contributing towards devaluing myself. Without using my God given conscience I was denying Gods love for me as well.

All in all I can say that my growing up was a challenge to confront. My own parents were the root causes of my existence in either of the rooms in the Okay house. I believe that if my parents have never neglected me when I was a fetus I could have never been such a black sheep in my family. Things turn out worse when dad died on the 18^th of March 1993 when I was only three. Growing up in a hostile environment known for killing men, raping mothers and young females was a challenge for me. My mother would advice my to know how to fight back in order to protect myself for men using me as a sex material, fortunately I was only four, age where no man can be interested in having sex. When my mother and I moved away from the village to move into town in search of good education, mom found a house in town where we shared a neighborhood with a family with both parents alive. Coming to realize that I was a fatherless person made me started questioning my mother about my dad’s whereabouts.

My mother would never say anything to explain my dad’s death because she was as well traumatized by the fact that my dad was shot to death right in front of her sight. Upon that reason she would beat me and my older siblings to death for asking her question about our dad.

Quality Teacher training and Education

 

Quality teacher is someone who has the full potential to impart knowledge to another person using the knowledge the teacher has. Quality teacher training according to my understanding refers to the knowledge imparted to the teachers especially in the colleges before they go into the teaching field. Quality teacher Education and training is the greatest concern of the Department of Education in PNG which has been stated in the National Education Plan. There are a numerous factors that affect the education system of Papua New Guinea. This write-up will discuss the points which the Department of Education can take as helpful tools to make some  changes in the education planning of the country. Points of discussion in this essay will be based on the selection of the students from year twelve into teaching colleges, personal view on the progress of the policies on the ground and what can take to ensure if the social policies are making positive changes in the communities.   

The profession of the teaching career in any country has to be understood that it is the backbone of any nation building in terms of human resource and capacity building. Teaching is not a profession but it is art that comes from the heart of a person (Ms Monica Sikas, DWU). In most cases in Papua New Guinea many grade 12 leavers go into colleges because of the low requirements. The calling of going into teachers colleges does not come from the heart but from the mind. According to the research finding by UNESCO in 2010 it has been proven that out of the Gross enrollment ratio of 95 percent enrolled in elementary schools on 2.1 percent are able to receive tertiary level. The education system of PNG is like a triangular prism. The question to pose now is where do the rest of the students go to?  Many students leave school due to teachers’ attitudes towards the students (post-courier 2009).

To avoid these problems the office of higher Education in PNG should elevate the required Great Point Average (GPA) a student should get in order to secure a place in any teachers college. Many students apply to primary teaching colleges because of the fear of not securing a place in the universities. So where is justice in this practice? Because of the low GPA’s our colleges in the country are getting the wrong people and when they graduate the focus will not be on the students but to themselves. Thus, this can be justified by the fact the most children when asked why they are not in school, they will say our teacher does come for class. This is very common among young teaching staffs in rural schools.

How can it be justified that a teacher graduating from a college with a out dated library and an environment which is not conducive for learning have enough knowledge to impart to the students? Most teaching colleges in Papua New Guinea do not have facilities which enhance the knowledge of the students. And also how much knowledge can a lecturer in the college impart onto the teacher within two years?  Unless, it is a calling from within, then there is no doubt for a diploma graduating teacher to do a fine job.

When a child is enrolled in school it is the teacher’s responsibility to mould and shape the wellbeing of that particular child. That is the reason why teachers in both elementary and primary schools should take teaching as a ministry or art, rather than a profession. The teacher is the one whom the children will be spending five days of the week with and not the parents. Thus, apart from the parents, teacher is also the one who will determine the future of that child. The high school and secondary levels cannot be a burden to the teachers if the foundation (elementary and primary) is firm.

So far according to a couple of students (Tusbab Secondary School) interviewed they revealed that most students going into high schools do not know how to construct a grammatically correct sentences (Coelina Matbob). This depicts that there is no quality teaching at the elementary and primary levels. It can simply be said that the plans made by the Department of Education is not gaining fruition. Besides that there is no tasked force to monitor the implementation of the plans drawn. That is the downside of the education plan of the country, not only the education plan but health, law and justice, the constitution itself and all policies and plans in other sectors of the government of Papua New Guinea.

Education department of the day has done a lot of positive impacts in the country in terms of producing Human resources in public sector and private as well. In the urban areas especially, the impart of education is vivid. However, the department has a lot to do in the rural areas of the country. So far, we only have the church providing education service in the remotest part of PNG.  

Every policies and plan made in PNG is made a certain group of people, these plans are done after need is identified. Policies and plans are drawn by the policy makers; the implementers are consulted to air their views only (Mr Gigil. D Marme, Health Management, DWU). It is better to boldly involve the implementers in the drawing of the policies and plans because it is them who will be implementing the plans with a clear knowledge.

In most cases today, plans are drawn and kept in the offices, thus it not widely known, so how can it be implemented effectively when it is not known to the implementers? A classic example I can give is in Bougainville. We the Bougainville students association of Divine Word University and University of Papua New Guinea conducted a awareness program in 2011 and we went visiting schools in the rural areas. After the awareness I had a conversation with a teacher from Morobe Province and I asked “How are you teachers implementing the V2050 in here?” She replied to me and said “you know sister I should not be affected by this vision as long as I have my bread and butter on the table because I do not know anything about this vision.”

                                                                                                                   

These policies, especially the education plan in this sense is not gaining much fruition because of the simple fact that it is not widely known and also PNG is producing human resources in quantity and not quality. If we have a human resource integrally developed and are willing to sacrifice for the good of the country, then PNG would be in a better position to execute all the plans. This would be the downside of drawing up plans which are seen as not practical; indeed they are practical.  That is the reason why I believe in quality teacher education and training because once the implementer is educated well; he or she will have heart for the country and will personally implement the plan despite challenges.

 Geography according to my understanding is another biggest constraint in the implementation of the education plan. This is in a sense that seventy percent (70%) of the people in Papua New Guinea live in the rural area in the mist of rugged mountains and valleys. For a island country of PNG which is about 445, 897 square kilometers big excluding the scattered island provinces like Manus, New Ireland New Britain and Bougainville as well some districts of Milne Bay, depending mostly on foreign aids it is hard to execute a plan.

This factor makes linkage of road difficult, and so the quality education services the people deserve do not reach those in the rural parts of PNG.

Money seems to be another factor which is hindering the implementation of the plans. Bribery which is the deadliest game played in PNG. “Bribery is eating away the credibility of public service in Papua New Guinea” (Mapun Papol). The mentality many implementers are having today is to get some good money under the table before carrying out the task. This practice is contributing so much in crippling our nation. According to one of the PNG pukpuk articles it has been stated that bribery is PNG way of life. “Is bribery Papua New Guinea’s way of life?”

I for one do not believe in that, reciprocity yes, it is a value found in our Melanesian way. Reciprocity is a value for maintaining our safety net and it is not meant to be abused by us. This value is not practice in a way that a person has to be paid first before doing the job. Many public servants today are abusing the reciprocity system by getting paid before executing the task. If this practice is said to be a culture by the policy makers, then there no point in drawing up plans and executing it because economically Papua New Guinea is still relying on the external sources of aid.

In the Medium term development plan, it has been planned that every sectors development plans has to have a follow up committee. Education Department at the national level has that, How about the provincial and district level? In 2007 Bougainville formed a force and named it Bougainville Education Task Force. It was composed of teachers and educationist from all over Bougainville. Their mission was to visit all the school (elementary, primary, vocational and secondary though out the region) which they did. And after their visit the drew up Bougainville Education plan 2008-2016. 

The problem they have a dissemination of information. Many of the teachers in Bougainville p to this date know that Bougainville has her own education plan. However, they do not know the content of the plan. And also there is no follow up committee who can be there to ensure that all the plans are carried out in the way it should be. If Bougainville can bring such a committee inplace the education plan can be executed accordingly. According to Mr Gigil, he mentioned that the plans should be disseminated from the top to the implementers so that they will know what to do. We do have many quality teachers in the country who are doing fine job as implementers but the problem is communication.

Papua New Guinea is a state that has only one government and under that government we have different department who are there to serve the people of the country and their government. In order for the government to progress these departments under that government should maintain communication and work juxtaposed to each other. Communication is the exchange and flow of information from one person to another (department to department).

Education department for instance needs the help of the National electoral commission for the population size in order to draw up a plan that could be accurate and not based on estimation. It also needs the law and justice sector department to know what crimes are common among the youths of the day so that the education department can plan for what to teach that can address the law and order issue of the country. Communication is the vital to for good governance.

Quality teacher training and education is a need in Papua New Guinea. The office of Higher Education in PNG must elevate the GPA of the students who to secure a place in any teaching college from year twelve in secondary school. Teacher training years should be extended from two years because two years is not enough in terms of preparing a teacher for a lifetime job of nation building. Personality, the education plan of the country is not progressing well because the plan is not widely known and also the implementers are not involved boldly in the plan making. Communication is a vital tool for positive community development. I for one recommend that all departments should maintain communication to move PNG forward. So, now it is a challenge for every one of us what we can do for our country in our professional fields in the near future. How am I contributing to implement the education plan of PNG?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Conclusion

·         Date:10 September 2012 http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=289&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5980&BR_Region=40515

·         Date 10 September 2012

http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2009/May/05-18-com.htm

·         Dorney.S (1990), Papua New Guinea-people political and History since 1975, Random House, Canberra, Australia

·         Flaherty.A. T(Woman Voice in Education- Identity and participation in a changing Papua New Guinea, Sat Prachar Press, Delhi, India

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