Education in Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, many students drop out of school during primary education and during the transition from primary to secondary. Only, one in five secondary-school age children are enrolled in school.

In line with the National Education Plan 2020-2029, Papua New Guinea’s Partnership Compact identifies completing the rollout of the 1-6-6 school restructuring reform as a priority for improving learning and increasing completion rates.

By changing the current 3-6-4 grade structure, the 1-6-6 restructuring lowers the age of entry into primary education by two years and extends the number of years of secondary education by two years.

In the early grades, the reform will develop a better qualified workforce, with more children completing play-based early childhood education and transitioning to primary school.

The primary education grades will be more age-appropriate. At the secondary level, students in grades 7 and 8 will benefit from better trained, specialized teachers and more appropriate infrastructure. With the removal of the grade 8 examination, students, especially adolescent girls, will have an automatic pathway into secondary education.

The reforms aim to enable more students to complete 13 years of schooling.

As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting Papua New Guinea Education Advocacy Network (PEAN) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).

Learn more

• Papua-New-Guinea is part of the KIX EMAP hub and has a KIX national delegation.
• KIX ongoing research projects:
  • Pacific Regional Education System Resilience Observatory

Learn more