Education

Decades of underinvestment in PNG’s education sector have led to declining standards: literacy rates had reportedly dropped to as low as 15-25% by 2011, and state spending on universities has fallen tenfold since independence. New state revenues, however, have many optimistic that these trends will be reversed. In 2009, the government abolished school fees for grade 1-10, which has increased retention rates. Additionally, the number of teachers more than doubled from 2003 to 2010, and the Department of Education plans to add more. Still, PNG will need major, sustained investment in its education system if it hopes to recover from years of neglect. This section contains an interview with David Arore, Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (RST).