PNG needs to be better educated

EARLIER this month, while a majority of us watched with bated breath over the events of the Parliament session that unfolded, little attention was given to another national event that will shape the future minds of this country.
About 80,000 Grade 10 students sat the written expression examination.
The attention given either event is the measure of this nation’s attitude and this attitude will shape the future.
We care for the vagaries of shallow politics and ignore the cause of education for our children.
The Government should aim to make basic education accessible, provide better learning environment and quality learning outcomes for all citizens as enshrined in the very first goal in the preamble to the Constitution which espouses integral human development.
Basic education is about providing every individual an education that provides basic skills in literacy, numeracy and general knowledge about the world around them.
It is the foundation building block for a person’s development, the family unit and the community in which a person
lives.
Being literate, numerate and having access to knowledge and information liberates an individual and empowers the individual to improve himself or herself as well as enhances the person’s contributions as a productive member of society.
The country’s education system also includes learning about health, society, government, economy, environment, etc.
It provides the essential foundation skills for someone to live a better life in the community as well as providing a firm foundation for further education.
However, in a world that is now technologically advancing at a very fast rate, every person requires more than a basic education to survive today.
The experiences of most other countries are that having a literate, numerate and enlightened population is seen as the foundation for higher levels of education much later, as well as for other forms of development to happen.
Yet, after 48 years of Independence, Papua New Guinea is far from achieving much tangible development.
This can be tied to the education system most people in the country had gone through. If you will look closely, the education system has been changed thrice over the years.
During the Parliamentary Committee on Communications’ inquiry into the country’s media industry last month, many issues were highlighted.
The inquiry noted that there was a certain disparity in the level of quality education among young people coming through the country’s education system, and then transitioning into the mainstream media’s workforce.
This, many said, resulted in the standard of the media industry drastically dropping, particularly of those tasked to produce news for public consumption.
There is no denying that the country’s education system has declined over the years and, to this day, many students in provinces and districts have experienced a hard time accessing schools.
One only has to ask a student in school to write a complete and comprehensive sentence or speak coherently in the English language to know the truth.
This is also evident among our so-called intellectuals and high-profile officials.
The broken primary and secondary education system has resulted in the poor performance of students at the tertiary level.
Getting an education is still not compulsory and, as a result, adult illiteracy rates are likely to remain high.
Parents often have limited capacity to facilitate their children’s learning as a result of that illiteracy.
Early childhood education is important for a child’s learning process, but there is little to no access to this.
That means most children are academically declined even before they attend their first class.
Once they do start school, many children need to walk considerable distances or catch several buses.
This is a concern for parents as public transport can be unsafe.
Limited classroom resources and a lack of trained teachers results in the low quality of education a child receives.
To fully eradicate such obstacles, it is first necessary for the country and policy-makers to appropriately understand the full benefits and high requirements towards an appropriate and effective education system.
Providing better interventions in these areas will further boost access, improve participation, and ensure a quality education for all.
In addition to this, a widespread access to quality education will benefit the country in its economic and social welfare.
The ultimate goal of education should be to help an individual navigate life and contribute to society once they become older.
The Government has to acknowledge the fact that access to education, retention rate and poor quality and learning outcomes are some of the problems that exist in the current education system and has to do something about it now.