Introduction

I decided to write one blog frantically at least each week. This week I wanted to begin blogging on a series which I and my boys have started writing on education which is something very dear and near to my own heart. We decided to call it 'Education towards liberation'. Throughout the series, I will try and unpack this bizzare statement which some of you may have heard quite informatively. I however would like to begin with the first episode on 'education a means to an end'. I struggled through many waters deep to get the education I now have and I don't take it lightly. The way I view education is built from this personal experience. A woman; from one of the last tribes in the outskirts of Central Niugini to come to meet civilization, The Hela Yuna; having broken so many of our integenerationally held customs; and having taken so many risks; my experiences are worth sharing to the benefit of others who may be taking their opportunities for granted. But first, what do I really mean when I say 'education as a means to an end'?

A meaning

Education is both a means and an end. Education is a means because acquiring knowledge is empowering, liberating, inspiring and increase individual capacity to think, rationalise and dream a positive future. This future can be the desired end; such as a good occupation, job, entrepreneurship or even helping others get an education (Freire 1968). The second of the United Nations Millennium Development goals calls to achieve basic primary education for all children (UNDP 2000). Education therefore is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty (UNESCO 2014). Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.

Education: a Papua New Guinea contextual analysis

The 2008-2012 adult literacy rate for PNG is 62.4 percent. There is an unequal distribution of these figure as majority of the illiterate population come from the rural sector. The rural sector is crucial because over 87 percent of PNG’s 7.3 people live in the rural sector dependent on subsistence farming (UNICEF 2013). Universal basic education is a critical part of rural development. Individuals who have had some education are better farmers and more capable of finding off-farm employment. The rural sector also benefits from the overall development of the national economy and the alleviation of poverty, in which basic education is essential. Yet rural primary schools suffer because they are remote from the central offices of the ministry of education, which distribute instructional resources, so their quality is poor (Moulton 2001).

Many primary and top up schools in rural and remote parts of PNG are dysfunctional due to lack of school classroom infrastructure, basic road and telecommunication infrastructure, classroom resources such as tables and chairs, teaching and learning resources and textbooks and shortages of teachers (UNICEF 2013). In addition to this is the fact that parents are poor to pay school fess for their children. This coupled with social and cultural expectations of roles and responsibilities, the number of girls that go school are less compared to boys (UNICEF 2013). Children that do complete their primary education are often pushed out of continuing their education throughout their life time by the complex and multiple dropout education system in PNG. Children have to sit for exams at the end of top up primary schooling at year 8, end of secondary school at year 10 and end of high secondary school at year 12. Furthermore, students that do make through these exams find themselves even further disadvantaged as a result of limited spaces in the two few secondary and higher secondary schools that are functional in the country (UNICEF 2013).

 Basic primary education starts from when the child is 5-6 years old in Elementary Prep 1 through to year 8. This period of basic education is most crucial because children learn basic numeracy and literacy skills (Classbase 2012). When children cannot continue to secondary and further education as discussed above, children have basic literacy which can help them do other useful projects to help themselves and their community. This is the reason why our focus is on getting as many primary schools functional so that enrolment rates are equitable between both girls and boys and schools are well resourced with teaching and learning resources and teachers.

Implications

The education system with multiple dropouts throughout a child's learning life in Papua New Guinea has created a disadvanatage for children to access basic universal primary education which would have benefited the entire community to design and initiate community projects that empower people to escape poverty through basic literacy and numeracy.

References

Classbase 2012, Education system in Papua New Guinea, viewed 6 September 2017 (https://www.classbase.com/Countries/Papua-New-Guinea/Education-System).

Freire 1970, Pedagogy of the oppressed, viewed 28 August 2015 (http://www.bing.com/search?q=pedagogy+of+the+oppressed+1970&qs=AS&sk=HS1AS2&pq=pedagogy+of+the+oppressed&sc=6-25&sp=4&cvid=a6a08c7356e04cf5af75ec409ddcda63&FORM=QBRE)

Moulton J 2001, Improving education in rural areas: Guidance for rural development specialists, The World Bank, (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.197.9341&rep=rep1&type=pdf)

UNECSO 2014, The right to education: law and policy guidelines, viewed 28 August 2015 (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/right-to-education/).

UNICEF 2013, Papua New Guinea at a glance, viewed 29 August 2015 (http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/papuang_statistics.html)

UNICEF 2013, Papua New Guinea; education, viewed 6 September 2017 (https://www.unicef.org/png/activities_4369.html)

Windybank, S & Manning, M 2003, ‘Issue analysis: Papua New Guinea on the brink’, The Centre for Independent Studies, no.30, viewed 10 April 2011 (online: http://www.cis.org.au/).

-----to be continued--- first your comments