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This can make Papua New Guinea rich in manpower expertise and be on par with the rest of the global community...
By Patricia Paraide
The Grades 8, 10 and 12 students have completed their examinations. Many are now preparing for graduation. Joy will be experienced by those who have secured formal employment and further studies. Their celebrations will be worthwhile. Unfortunately, uncertainty and disappointment will also set in for many who will miss out. Studies show that not all students experience satisfaction in formal schooling and only those who can afford school fees are able to continue their education while those who cannot afford school fees miss out. Generally, female students’ education is neglected in such situations. Financial support for students’ school feesThe inability of students’ access to any level of education because of parents’ inability to pay for school fees is still an issue in Papua New Guinea. Some provinces have catered for this through school fee subsidies for their students. Parents’ employers, logging and mining companies’ sponsorship of landowners’ children’s education and sponsors by relatives for students’ education have also contributed to human resource development in Papua New Guinea. These groups should be commended for supporting such development. The students from families who cannot afford school fees and do not fall into any of these categories may miss out in continuing their education. Many educational institutions allow parents to pay school fees in instalments to allow parents to generate sufficient income during the year so as to eventually pay off their children’s school fees. Such arrangements may not cater for families in poor economic environments because they may not be able to generate sufficient income during the year to pay off school fees. Consequently, students are suspended from school due to incomplete school fee payments. Some schools allow students to sit for the national examinations but withhold certificates until they pay off their school fee debts. In some cases students are banned from sitting for the national examinations unless school fees are paid in full. These policies can be traumatic for those students affected. However, educational institutions cannot be blamed for taking such measures because they need their school fee income to function efficiently to serve the majority of their institution’s population. Parents cannot be blamed either because their particular economic environments may not allow them to make sufficient or additional income to pay for their children’s school fees. This group of students need financial support to continue their education. Heavily subsidised school fees or some form of scholarship should be seriously considered for these students by the government and the education authorities. Support for students in natural disaster areasDue to natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, floods and cyclones, people are resettled in other places foreign to them. Such people suffer restrictions because they are not in their own traditional land where they can freely garden, fish, hunt, and participate in cash cropping. The blocks of land allocated to them do not adequately support any informal economic income generating activities for school fees. Those who are formally employed may cope better in such situations and many are generally able to pay for their children’s school fees and other basic needs. The students whose parents cannot generate sufficient income for school fees will not advance in their education. The government and education authorities should also seriously consider heavily subsidised school fees or some form of scholarship for these students.
Support for students during cash crop failureIn some communities people depend heavily on good production of cash crops for their major incomes which support their children’s school fees and other basic needs. Currently, there are some communities in Papua New Guinea whose cash crops have been destroyed by diseases and insects. The people’s incomes are likely to be affected and therefore the earnings from this informal income activity have dropped. Consequently, parents in such situations may not be able to generate sufficient income to pay for their children’s school fees in 2010 meaning the students in these communities may not advance to their next level of education. The appropriate authorities should also seriously consider heavily subsidised school fees or some form of scholarship for these students. Urban settlementsThe people in the urban settlements are also disadvantaged in terms of families adequately meeting their daily basic needs. Many students in such communities drop out of school because their parents cannot afford their bus fares, food and school fees. Some parents make every effort to earn a living through informal income activities to meet their basic daily needs. In many cases, they do not generate sufficient income to meet all their children’s educational needs. Consequently, the students drop out of school. Appropriate school fee support should also be seriously considered for needy students in such communities. Access to advance educationAnother pressing issue as reported recently is that infrastructure in tertiary institutions is in dire need of maintenance. They also need to develop their infrastructure to adequately cater for the increasing number of enrolments for female and male students because of the improved student access to education to secondary level since the education reform began. Furthermore, the lack of appropriate infrastructure for the increasing female population in many tertiary institutions restricts their enrolment. Additionally, many tertiary institutions lack adequate funding which has constrained any effort to advance relevant academic programs that will enable them to respond appropriately to current increases in the various market demands in Papua New Guinea. Students from poor families or economically disadvantaged areas in PNG must be supported financially in their education as well, so that they can also participate in PNG’s development. This can make Papua New Guinea rich in manpower expertise and be on par with the rest of the global community in terms of manpower development. This would see expertise labour costs reduced and income from Papua New Guinean businesses and manpower expertise remaining in PNG for the government to use in education, health, agriculture and other sectors.
Patricia Paraide is a senior research fellow in the Educational Studies Division at the National Research Institute. This article was published with permission from National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea. NRI website can be accessed at www.nri.org.pgWhat do you think about this article? Add you comments and views below: |