Elementary Education
Papua New Guinea has developed a unique and culturally relevant system of elementary education. Elementary education covers grades Elementary Prep to Grade 2 and is community based.
Instruction is provided in the local vernacular or Tok Ples. PNG has over 850 languages all of which are approved languages of instruction! Communities can gain approval to open an elementary school from the Provincial Education Board and can use their local language if the language has an orthography.
Teachers are selected from within the local community and receive training through the Certificate of Elementary Teaching (CET) training program.
The CET program is conducted over three years and comprises an initial period of six weeks full-time training followed by three years "in practice training". Further full-time sessions are conducted in January and February in the second and third years of training. Training is conducted by over 250 trained elementary trainers located throughout PNG. AusAID has supported this initiative through the Elementary Teacher Education Support Program. 12,000 elementary teachers are in training or have completed their CET.
Another unique feature of elementary education in PNG is its focus on culturally relevant learning. The community provides extensive input into elementary education to ensure its cultural relevance.
New outcomes-based elementary syllabuses have been developed by the Curriculum Development Division. These syllabuses have been distributed to all elementary schools for implementation from 2004. The syllabuses are accompanied by a teacher guide and an Implementation Support Booklet to assist head teachers implement the new curriculum. Copies of these documents can be found on this site.