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I.D.R.C.

CHAPTER 1 & INTRODUCTION - Problems of Devolution of PNG Education

By - Dr Gabriel Kulwaum, Adminstrator, Manus Province, PNG

Introduction

Papua New Guinea (PNG) was granted its political independence from Australia in 1975. Upon independence it inherited the political, economic, administrative and education systems which the Australian colonial government had established after the Second World War. Axline (1988: 72) argues:

At the time of independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea embarked on a series of policies which, among other things, aimed to overcome two of the legacies of the colonial experiences: the high degree of centralisation of political and administrative power, and the great geographical inequality of wealth and distribution of government services within the country. These policies were embodied in the creation of a national planning system with mechanism of redressing spatial inequalities, and the creation of a decentralised political system to provide a basis for wider participation in the political process.

These systems were highly centralised, with most of the power located either in Port Moresby or in the Australian Department of External Territories in Canberra (Ballard, 1981). For the colonial government, this centralisation had not only been administratively convenient but also politically necessary. Without centralisation, it would not have been possible for the colonial powers to construct the nation which is now referred to as "Papua New Guinea" (Dorney, 1990).

While the creation of a new nation was a significant accomplishment, it was achieved by overturning many of the traditional structures of governance in the country (Latukefu, 1989). Before colonisation, the villages and regions in Papua New Guinea had considerable autonomy (Hobgin, 1951). Many of them were even self-sufficient, with limited or no contact with neighbouring tribes. With colonialism, people in the villages had to confront a new reality: the impact on their lives of western institutions of economy and culture (Moore and Griffin, 1989). Education was one of these institutions. Smith and Guthrie (1980:6) state:

One of the more powerful agents of social change directly affecting children was, of course, the school. Often one of the first manifestations of "development" in a community, the school affected the social positions of the children in the village community ...

The colonial governments had assumed that the traditional methods of socialisation were both insufficient and inappropriate for life in the twentieth century, and that Papua New Guinea could only "develop" through a system of mass western education administered by a central bureaucracy.

Upon political independence, the PNG government had to negotiate this colonial legacy. On the one hand, it had no alternative other than to work within the administrative structures which had been set up by Australia, but, on the other hand, it had to respond positively to the demands for local autonomy which the independence movement was expected to deliver (Axline, 1988). This movement had promised "indigenisation" of education (Matane, 1976) which implied a reassertion of some of the traditional values and cultural practices, including local control (for example, see Appendix 1 [Somare's Eight Point Plan], and Appendix 2 [National Goals and Principle Directives]).

The first PNG government of Michael Somare was thus committed to transferring a great deal of central power back to the people in the villages. The idea of devolution is based on this commitment (Organic Law on Provincial Government, 1977). The PNG government has thus recognised the importance of the principle of devolved governance in education. It has espoused a desire to give the people in the villages and the provinces as much say in the organisation of their own lives as possible, within, of course, a framework of centrally prescribed principles formulated to keep the nation together (PNG National Constitution, 1975).

A commitment to devolution has thus been a constant theme in the post-independence history of Papua New Guinea. Of course this commitment has not always had the same form; and the idea of devolution has been articulated and rearticulated in a variety of ways. However, the rhetoric of decentralisation and devolution has persisted. It has been present not only in the democratic rhetoric that politicians espouse, but it has also served to inform public sector reforms designed to restructure such institutions as education (Axline, 1993:5).

Policies of devolution and decentralisation in education have thus not only been symbolic (Prunty, 1984), they have also been implemented in a range of material ways.   However, it is generally recognised in PNG that these policies have not been entirely successful, and that the nation has encountered numerous problems in both their articulation and their implementation (Bray, 1984; Micah, 1992; Axline, 1993). Today, much of the political debate in PNG surrounds issues concerning the form and the extent to which devolution has been, should be, or can be, implemented. There is a great deal of frustration in the country over the failure of the policy of devolution. For example, Barry Holloway, a naturalised PNG citizen, former kiap and national minister, and one of the outspoken critics of the provincial government system, maintains:

[Provincial governments] are, however, part of a system which is a total disaster for this country ... It is totally destructive of the true philosophy of decentralisation and grass roots system of government. (Holloway, 1990, Times of PNG, 1 February 1990:23)

Similarly, Wingti, a former Prime Minister, contends:

When our Constitutional Planning Committee first proposed a decentralised system of government in the form of the present provincial government system, they envisaged a system that brought goods and services close to the people. Seventeen years later that noble goal has yet to see the light of day. Our people are crying out for basic services ... The whole dream of provincial government has gone wrong. (Wingti, 1992a)

The ideological dimensions relate to the issues of who has the right to participate in decision-making, and at what level; what are the appropriate modes and practices of participation in decision-making; and what is the extent to which people have the confidence and relevant expertise to make the decisions which affect their lives. The political dimensions revolve around the issues of power and of power arrangements--of how power is expressed through policies and is exercised by people occupying particular positions; and of the manner in which power arrangements do or do not permit widespread participation. The bureaucratic dimensions are linked to the issues of resources and resource allocation; of the extent to which administrative arrangements are responsive and sensitive to the wishes of the people; and of how these arrangements permit or inhibit the initiation, implementation, and evaluation of particular educational initiatives.

Of course, these issues of administration cannot be addressed in an historical vacuum. They are located within the wider social, political and historical context of PNG communities. On this point, Axline (1993:7) argues:

No proper evaluation can be made in isolation from the broader political and social context [of problems of governance].

It is therefore important to understand the problems of devolution, not only within the context of the colonial history of Papua New Guinea, but also within its current context of social fragmentation and economic dependency. Also, the problems of educational governance can be understood only when linked to the more general problems of public sector reform, not least because more than ninety percent of the schools in PNG are public schools (PNG National Plan of Action: Education for All 1994-2010, 1994).

It is important to note that the national entity which is referred to now as "Papua New Guinea" is a western colonial construct created by the colonial powers which ruled over it before 1975. PNG was forged into one nation-state out of diverse cultural and ethnic groups. There are some 700 language and tribal groups that still survive in PNG. But it was colonialism that provided the binding force for these different tribal groups to come together as one people, one country serving under one flag. Bray (1985:1) observes:

Within Papua New Guinea, we should distinguish between the societies based on clans and ethnicity, which were formed in the centuries before colonial contact, and the new national society created by the colonial state. Structures in the former have been radically altered by the forces shaping PNG as a national unit, but the traditional systems of stratification are still important. In the pre-colonial period most societies existed largely independently. With the creation of the independent state, the smallest societies were made part of a larger unit which had its own structures and sometimes cut across pre-existing patterns.

This was a forced amalgamation. Not surprisingly, therefore, attempts since independence to maintain a unity in diversity have not been easy.

For throughout the past two decades, there have been pressures from within and outside PNG which have challenged its cohesion and integrity. For instance, immediately after independence, the unity of Papua New Guinea was threatened by the secessionist movements in North Solomon (Bougainville) and Papua (Waiko, 1993:185). Waiko (1993: 233) has suggested that in the period immediately after independence:

An issue over which the national government had difficulty in exercising control was the aspiration of some regional leaders for greater autonomy for their regions. As has been seen, Bougainville, the Mataungan Association of East New Britain and Papua Besena Movement had made strong moves for a measure of autonomy or in the case of Bougainville complete separation ...

The Background

Papua New Guinea (PNG) was granted its political independence from Australia in 1975. Upon independence it inherited the political, economic, administrative and education systems which the Australian colonial government had established after the Second World War. Axline (1988: 72) argues:

At the time of independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea embarked on a series of policies which, among other things, aimed to overcome two of the legacies of the colonial experiences: the high degree of centralisation of political and administrative power, and the great geographical inequality of wealth and distribution of government services within the country. These policies were embodied in the creation of a national planning system with mechanism of redressing spatial inequalities, and the creation of a decentralised political system to provide a basis for wider participation in the political process.

These systems were highly centralised, with most of the power located either in Port Moresby or in the Australian Department of External Territories in Canberra (Ballard, 1981). For the colonial government, this centralisation had not only been administratively convenient but also politically necessary. Without centralisation, it would not have been possible for the colonial powers to construct the nation which is now referred to as "Papua New Guinea" (Dorney, 1990).

While the creation of a new nation was a significant accomplishment, it was achieved by overturning many of the traditional structures of governance in the country (Latukefu, 1989). Before colonisation, the villages and regions in Papua New Guinea had considerable autonomy (Hobgin, 1951). Many of them were even self-sufficient, with limited or no contact with neighbouring tribes. With colonialism, people in the villages had to confront a new reality: the impact on their lives of western institutions of economy and culture (Moore and Griffin, 1989). Education was one of these institutions. Smith and Guthrie (1980:6) state:

One of the more powerful agents of social change directly affecting children was, of course, the school. Often one of the first manifestations of "development" in a community, the school affected the social positions of the children in the village community ...

The colonial governments had assumed that the traditional methods of socialisation were both insufficient and inappropriate for life in the twentieth century, and that Papua New Guinea could only "develop" through a system of mass western education administered by a central bureaucracy.

Upon political independence, the PNG government had to negotiate this colonial legacy. On the one hand, it had no alternative other than to work within the administrative structures which had been set up by Australia, but, on the other hand, it had to respond positively to the demands for local autonomy which the independence movement was expected to deliver (Axline, 1988). This movement had promised "indigenisation" of education (Matane, 1976) which implied a reassertion of some of the traditional values and cultural practices, including local control (for example, see Appendix 1 [Somare's Eight Point Plan], and Appendix 2 [National Goals and Principle Directives]).

The first PNG government of Michael Somare was thus committed to transferring a great deal of central power back to the people in the villages. The idea of devolution is based on this commitment (Organic Law on Provincial Government, 1977). The PNG government has thus recognised the importance of the principle of devolved governance in education. It has espoused a desire to give the people in the villages and the provinces as much say in the organisation of their own lives as possible, within, of course, a framework of centrally prescribed principles formulated to keep the nation together (PNG National Constitution, 1975).

A commitment to devolution has thus been a constant theme in the post-independence history of Papua New Guinea. Of course this commitment has not always had the same form; and the idea of devolution has been articulated and rearticulated in a variety of ways. However, the rhetoric of decentralisation and devolution has persisted. It has been present not only in the democratic rhetoric that politicians espouse, but it has also served to inform public sector reforms designed to restructure such institutions as education (Axline, 1993:5).

Policies of devolution and decentralisation in education have thus not only been symbolic (Prunty, 1984), they have also been implemented in a range of material ways. However, it is generally recognised in PNG that these policies have not been entirely successful, and that the nation has encountered numerous problems in both their articulation and their implementation (Bray, 1984; Micah, 1992; Axline, 1993). Today, much of the political debate in PNG surrounds issues concerning the form and the extent to which devolution has been, should be, or can be, implemented. There is a great deal of frustration in the country over the failure of the policy of devolution. For example, Barry Holloway, a naturalised PNG citizen, former kiap and national minister, and one of the outspoken critics of the provincial government system, maintains:

[Provincial governments] are, however, part of a system which is a total disaster for this country ... It is totally destructive of the true philosophy of decentralisation and grass roots system of government. (Holloway, 1990, Times of PNG, 1 February 1990:23)

Similarly, Wingti, a former Prime Minister, contends:

When our Constitutional Planning Committee first proposed a decentralised system of government in the form of the present provincial government system, they envisaged a system that brought goods and services close to the people. Seventeen years later that noble goal has yet to see the light of day. Our people are crying out for basic services ... The whole dream of provincial government has gone wrong. (Wingti, 1992a)

There is thus considerable debate in PNG over the issues arising from devolution. This work represents an academic intervention in this debate. In particular, the work seeks to examine some of the key problems that PNG has encountered in its attempts to implement the policy of decentralisation and devolution in education. This examination is framed by the belief that the problems associated with the implementation of the policies of devolution in PNG have ideological, political and bureaucratic dimensions which intersect in a range of complex ways.

The ideological dimensions relate to the issues of who has the right to participate in decision-making, and at what level; what are the appropriate modes and practices of participation in decision-making; and what is the extent to which people have the confidence and relevant expertise to make the decisions which affect their lives. The political dimensions revolve around the issues of power and of power arrangements--of how power is expressed through policies and is exercised by people occupying particular positions; and of the manner in which power arrangements do or do not permit widespread participation. The bureaucratic dimensions are linked to the issues of resources and resource allocation; of the extent to which administrative arrangements are

responsive and sensitive to the wishes of the people; and of how these arrangements permit or inhibit the initiation, implementation, and evaluation of particular educational initiatives.

Of course, these issues of administration cannot be addressed in an historical vacuum. They are located within the wider social, political and historical context of PNG communities. On this point, Axline (1993:7) argues:

No proper evaluation can be made in isolation from the broader political and social context [of problems of governance].

It is therefore important to understand the problems of devolution, not only within the context of the colonial history of Papua New Guinea, but also within its current context of social fragmentation and economic dependency. Also, the problems of educational governance can be understood only when linked to the more general problems of public sector reform, not least because more than ninety percent of the schools in PNG are public schools (PNG National Plan of Action: Education for All 1994-2010, 1994).

It is important to note that the national entity which is referred to now as "Papua New Guinea" is a western colonial construct created by the colonial powers which ruled over it before 1975. PNG was forged into one nation-state out of diverse cultural and ethnic groups. There are some 700 language and tribal groups that still survive in PNG. But it was colonialism that provided the binding force for these different tribal groups to come together as one people, one country serving under one flag. Bray (1985:1) observes:

Within Papua New Guinea, we should distinguish between the societies based on clans and ethnicity, which were formed in the centuries before colonial contact, and the new national society created by the colonial state. Structures in the former have been radically altered by the forces shaping PNG as a national unit, but the traditional systems of stratification are still important. In the pre-colonial period most societies existed largely independently. With the creation of the independent state, the smallest societies were made part of a larger unit which had its own structures and sometimes cut across pre-existing patterns.

This was a forced amalgamation. Not surprisingly, therefore, attempts since independence to maintain a unity in diversity have not been easy.

For throughout the past two decades, there have been pressures from within and outside PNG which have challenged its cohesion and integrity. For instance, immediately after independence, the unity of Papua New Guinea was threatened by the secessionist movements in North Solomon (Bougainville) and Papua (Waiko, 1993:185). Waiko (1993: 233) has suggested that in the period immediately after independence:

An issue over which the national government had difficulty in exercising control was the aspiration of some regional leaders for greater autonomy for their regions. As has been seen, Bougainville, the Mataungan Association of East New Britain and Papua Besena Movement had made strong moves for a measure of autonomy or in the case of Bougainville complete separation ...

In recent years, similar threats have been issued by a group of New Guinea Island regions including Manus, New Ireland, East New Britain, and West New Britain. Although these secession movements have not been successful, they have created political pressures which PNG as a State cannot ignore. Jarret, Anderson and Nguyen (1990:1) suggest:

... the recent outbreaks of armed conflict around the Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) mine and the growth of a separatist movement in the North Solomons Province has significant implications for the economic and political life of PNG.

It follows then that whilst it wishes to maintain its unity, PNG has to recognise the cultural diversity that exists within the nation, and work with a framework which accords all cultural traditions equal importance. No account of PNG is possible without an adequate treatment of the political pressures created by its diversity. These pressures are thus clearly relevant to a discussion of the devolution policies that have been attempted in the country. Paradoxically, it is the need to keep the nation together that makes the policies of decentralisation and devolution both politically necessary and difficult to implement (Axline, 1993).

Apart from these internal pressures, PNG is also subject to outside influences. In recent years, PNG has had to meet a range of conditions laid down by the international economic organisations for its very survival (Bauer, 1991). PNG has been a recipient of aid from financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Bank (Report on Foreign Aid 1991, 1992) as well as from development agencies such as Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) (Aopi, 1993). These international aid agencies have required PNG to implement a range of economic and administrative policies not necessarily of the nation's own choosing. However as Conroy (1982:90) notes:

... any imposition of priorities by an aid donor intrudes into the affairs of the recipient. Thus aid policies directed towards economic growth have their own distribution implications and to the extent they modify the income distribution preferred by the recipient's own policy-makers, intervention has occurred.

The conditions of loan and aid to which the PNG government has had to agree have been wide-ranging, though their main importance has been on the development of PNG as a strong corporate state responding to the needs of a free-market society. The aid agencies have also required PNG to implement a number of administrative reforms. This has meant giving a particular form to the idea of devolution. The aid agencies have also advised PNG on the directions its educational policies should take (PNG-AIDAB Working Group, 1993)--on what should count as educational development and on the way education should be administered (Office of International Development Agency [OIDA], 1992).

Generally, these policy prescriptions have been based on a certain understanding of the idea of development. This understanding has involved a tacit acceptance of the basic assumptions of capitalism which in PNG implies the need to establish a flourishing cash economy (Chan, 1993a). It should be noted, of course, that this had been the main motive for the colonisation of the country. To realise the form of development necessary for a cash economy, the colonial powers had required a form of bureaucracy to regulate modes of exchange. To facilitate orderly development, it was thought necessary to develop a strong public service.

After independence, the PNG public service remained unchanged for more than a decade. Only in the last five to ten years have some reforms been made to it. The centralised public service was, and continues to be, considered by the colonial powers, an effective tool for the nation's social and economic development. PNG has therefore maintained a system of strong centralised bureaucracy supported by an administrative structure with national and provincial Departments which relate to each other in a hierarchical manner. There exists in PNG the notion of one public service with its organisation and operations split at two levels: the national and the provincial. At each level, parallel bureaucratic arrangements exist with the objective of realising the goals of national development. Schools and provinces have some discretion, but are ultimately accountable to the centre (Organic Law on Provincial Government, 1977; National [revised] Education Act, 1983). Thus, for example, the National Education Board, a statutory body which has the overall responsibility for policy development, is supported operationally by a national Department and Division of Education located in Port Moresby. There are parallel structures in each of the provinces and schools (PNG National Plan of Action: Education for All 1994-2010, 1994), with a Provincial

Education Board supported by a provincial Department of Education, and School Boards of Management by school administrators. These arrangements formally institutionalise a policy-operations divide, and serve to define the context within which the policies of devolution and decentralisation are implemented in PNG education.

In PNG these bureaucratic arrangements have given rise to a new elite in PNG society who are referred to as "Bigmen"--public servants (Axline, 1993). The Bigmen do not always hold an elected office, but nevertheless play a significant role in the nation's public life and enjoy considerable power and prestige (Kasaipwalova, 1976). What they say and do carries considerable authority, especially among the people in the villages (Avolos, 1993). The manner in which they exercise influence and power is relevant to an understanding of the way public policies are formulated, and of the way policies of devolution are implemented. Many of these Bigmen had played an important role in the construction of PNG as a nation state by being compliant with the colonial authorities, but their power has not diminished with independence. They continue to define the direction of the nation's social and economic development.

It is important to note that the Bigmen have to a certain extent replaced the traditional authority of the chiefs. They relate to the people in an entirely different manner, exercising power through the new institutions of the administrative state. While the authority of the chiefs was traditional, the Bigmen enjoy legal-rational authority (Weber, 1948), having become assimilated within the western traditions of governance. The Bigmen are the products of a western education system (Kasaipwalova, 1976), having been formally educated in western schools either within PNG or overseas. Kasaipwalova (1976:130) argues:

... Papua New Guinea is developing a "class" of people which can rightly be called "elite". By the term elites I mean the generation of young people, the privileged few of a developing country, receiving the Western education which seems to be the key to the Western style of social, economic and bureaucratic life.

These young people have also worked under the administrative and professional leadership of expatriates. Their education and experience has thus served to determine their interests, values and attitudes, and can therefore be assumed to affect the way they approach their work.

The Research

It is within this broad ideological, political and administrative context that the research reported here seeks to provide an explanation of why it has been so difficult to institute the policies of devolution in PNG education over the past two decades. It accepts the general observation made in numerous reports (for example, Matane Report, 1986, and McNamara Report, 1989) that attempts to institute a devolved system of educational administration in PNG have not been entirely successful. It also seeks to identify and analyse some of the reasons for this relative failure.

The research methodology employed to collect the data upon which the arguments presented here are based is discussed in Chapter 4. It should be noted at the outset, however, that this work does not pretend to present a value-neutral account of the issues concerning the policies of devolution in PNG. It recognises that any analysis of educational governance is intrinsically political, both in its aims and purposes and in its use of particular theoretical frameworks for analysis. It also recognises that the research findings will be read and received by PNG administrators and politicians in a very politicised manner, and that the use of this book may prove to be highly contentious.

Because of the highly political nature of this research, qualitative research methods were considered appropriate. There were two major sources of data collection: in-depth interviews with

key players and the policy documents and reports on PNG educational administration and public sector reform. Forty-six interviews were conducted. Of these, thirty-one were with key players in PNG and, given the role of expatriates in the development of PNG educational policies, fifteen were with Australians who have spent extensive periods of time working in PNG education. All interviewees were or are currently, either directly or indirectly, key players in the initiation, formulation, implementation and evaluation of the policies of devolution in education, and are widely known to hold strong views on the subject. Some of these key-players have held major decision-making positions in the PNG public service over the past two decades, while others have had a more indirect role as participants in the educational processes at the regional and local levels.

The interviews were held during 1993 in a number of locations: Port Moresby, Manus Island, Canberra and Brisbane. The Port Moresby interviews were with senior PNG public servants, while the interviews in Manus Island were with regional officers, as well as with the members of the community, including farmers and fishermen. The interviews in Australia were with expatriates who have now returned, and with policy officers in Canberra (at AIDAB, now called AusAID) advising the PNG government on issues of development and education. Each interview lasted around sixty minutes, and was transcribed and authenticated by the interviewees.

The interviews were semi-structured around a number of themes, including recent changes in PNG education; the participants' understanding of the policies of devolution; the history of these policies and the problems associated with their implementation; the role of expatriates and overseas aid agencies in the formulation of policy priorities; the development of a professional bureaucracy in PNG and its relationship to local traditions; the issues concerning the relationship between the centre and the regions and schools; public sector reforms in PNG and their implications for the nature and scope of devolution; the economic and political uncertainty in PNG and its consequences for resource allocation in education; alternative models of organisational change; and the likely future of the policies of devolution. Ample opportunity was also provided in the interviews for the participants to say what they actually felt about both education and devolution in a relatively unconstrained fashion.

There are several reasons why this research is significant. First, it is the first study of its kind to be conducted in PNG by a Papua New Guinean who has been directly involved in the implementation of the policies of devolution in education at a regional level--in Manus Islands as an Assistant Secretary in the Division of Education of the Department of Manus Province. Overseas researchers have dominated the field of educational research in PNG (Conroy, 1982:133-140). What is significant about this research is the richness of the experiences that the researcher has been able to bring to the project. The researcher has had access to the local people and language in a way that the overseas researchers cannot. Collectively, the experiences that the researcher and the researched share have the potential to provide in-depth insights because they have to live with the same problems. The overseas researchers do not generally stay long enough in the regional areas to develop an adequate level of familiarity, the local knowledge, with the research context, and cannot therefore access the information, the local know-how, in a manner that the local researcher can (Martin, 1991).

In recent years, the issue of voice in educational research has been raised. Conroy (1982:136) contends:

Foreign domination of social science research in Papua New Guinea (and in Oceania more generally) has emerged as a major issue among young educated Melanesians. Some see research by foreigners as essentially exploitative dependence-inducing, and demeaning ... There is considerable ambivalence among Papua New Guineans on this issue, based on their suspicion that the balance of benefits is often tilted more in favour of the researcher who will earn degrees, publications or promotions, than the people among whom he works. The failure to communicate research results

to those who might benefit from them has been too common in the past to disregard such adverse reactions by Melanesians.

Conroy further argues:

This is quite apart from the charges of cultural imposition and ethnocentricity levelled against foreign researchers to which he suggests the most effective solution is the indigenisation of research.

It has been noted that there are particular analytical and political problems associated with research conducted by a researcher who does not share the cultural perspective of those who are researched. This research overcomes some of these problems by synthesising local knowledge with theoretical perspectives that are derived from another tradition, namely, that of a western policy sociology (Ozga and McNay, 1985). This tradition views educational policy research as overtly political, concerned with the identification of power and the way it is expressed and maintained in the practices of educational administration.

Second, this research is significant in that it attempts to show that the issues of educational administration are linked inextricably to a range of wider political concerns in PNG. Since political independence the problem of devolution has been explored by a number of educational researchers (for example, Bray, 1984), but they have been reluctant to view it as a political problem linked to the issues of public sector reforms and the bureaucratic culture that the nation has inherited from Australia. Over the past two decades, PNG has been attempting to "indigenise" its public service through the introduction of reforms such as devolution, but these attempts have been caught within the nation's colonial legacy. An examination of this legacy is thus essential for researching the problems of devolution in PNG education, for it is this legacy which constitutes the parameters of reform in PNG. A study of devolution which does not take into account these historical factors and which is confined to an exploration of narrowly-defined educational concerns, cannot be adequate.

What is clearly evident in PNG is that not only do public sector reforms have major implications for the way education is organised, but that a study of devolution in education can also reveal much about the operations of the public sector generally. In PNG, the size of the educational budget is approximately 30 percent of the total public sector budget (Chan, 1993a). Given this size, anything that is said of education must have relevance to the entire public sector. Furthermore, in PNG, education is a site where many of the public-sector reforms are first tried. This research seeks therefore to make a contribution to the current debates concerning the restructuring of the public sector, and particularly the realignment of centre-province relationships and the nation's tentative and ambiguous moves towards granting the provincial governments more autonomy.

Third, the significance of this research lies in the contribution it seeks to make to the academic debate concerning the tensions between bureaucracy and democracy. While there is a massive literature in the West on this debate as it relates to the problems of devolution in education (see for example, Chapman & Dunstan, 1990), this literature has not addressed the issue of the ways in which the relations of bureaucracy and democracy are played out in Third World countries, and are constructed through the historical trajectories of colonialism. Carrier and Carrier (1991:232) point out:

One cannot wash out the effects of colonisation on a society simply by ignoring features that are obviously products of colonisation, because even apparently-traditional aspects of life will necessarily bear the marks of colonisation ...

Most of the literature in educational administration tends to generalise insights about the nature of the relationship of democracy and bureaucracy across all different cultural contexts, assuming the problems to be of the same kind everywhere. This research rests on the conviction that

such is not the case, and that relations of governance are culturally mediated and historically specific. So while the existing literature on bureaucracy and democracy will inform the analysis presented on the problems of devolution in PNG, the data collected will also point to the inadequacies and the cultural biases of much of this literature.

Much of the recent research on the problems of devolution in education has focused on the "micro" issues concerning such matters as the number and range of people in decision-making, the intensity and scope of their involvement, the actual impact of their involvement and so on (Seddon, et al 1990). Less attention has been paid to viewing the issues from the "macro" perspective: that is the cultural and political context in which the practices of devolution are located (Burke, 1993). This research puts an emphasis on investigating this wider context in order to explicate the specific difficulties that people face at the "micro" level--in the provinces and the schools. Thus, it views issues such as the impact of colonialism on PNG education, the western perceptions of development and the role of the elites in the policy processes as constituting an ideological, political and bureaucratic backdrop against which to describe and explain the problems of devolution in PNG education.

The Arguments

In seeking to provide possible explanations of the problems of devolution in education, this book suggests that there are a whole host of reasons why it has been so difficult to institute reforms in PNG. It maintains, however, that an adequate understanding of these reasons requires a discussion of the ways they are linked in one way or another to a single factor: the nation's colonial legacy. So while PNG has formally been an independent country for two decades, it is contended that its social, political, economic--and educational--problems need to be understood historically. It suggests that since political independence, PNG has had to come to terms with a new phase of colonialism which is no longer expressed in its traditional form but in a more ideological and hegemonic form. In a way, then, this work seeks to show how these more recent forms of colonialism operate in PNG educational administration and are relevant to an understanding of the problems of democratic reforms.

Upon independence, PNG inherited a western (Australian) education system. This system had been shaped by a number of legal dictates, for example, the National Education Act (1971) and its accompanying regulations. In 1975, this Act was incorporated within PNG's National Constitution. It thus became an integral part of the political and legal arrangements which constructed PNG as a political entity. It was assumed that such legal arrangements were necessary to ensure that PNG remained a united country. And although the Act was revised in 1983 (National Education Act, 1983), it continued to be informed by a notion of educational development that had been defined by Australia for PNG before independence. Here, I argue that this notion is informed by a set of colonial precepts that assume the desirability of a particular kind of society which might be developed through education.

I suggest that any policy attempts to introduce greater devolution in PNG educational administration are thus framed by these colonial precepts. Given that in PNG, the principal purpose of education is thought to be economic and social development, most of the public debates in the country concerning curriculum and pedagogic policies, issues of educational resources, administration and the like, continue to be informed by a colonial legacy that is already implicit in the nation's constitution. The idea of a western mass education is now so institutionalised that it is difficult to imagine alternatives to it. The traditional modes of socialisation are now expected to be accommodated within this dominant view of what counts as education and how it should be best organised. This ideological orientation has a number of consequences for thinking about devolution. Furthermore, while there has been a marked interest in developing alternative modes of educational

administration in PNG, many of the reforms have remained trapped within the colonial modes of thinking. Tololo (1976:220) argues:

When people [expatriates] came to live and work here in Papua New Guinea they brought with them their values, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and ways of doing things.

... the difficulty I want to point out is that people (indigenous) have been conditioned over a long period of time to the values, attitudes, beliefs, and ways of doing things of Australians. They see these as desirable. However it is very doubtful whether they can serve the needs of a self governing and independent Papua New Guinea. It is not going to be easy for people to change their minds and work out new (and appropriate and relevant) values, attitudes, beliefs, and ways of doing things ...

In recent years, one of the reasons for promoting the policies of devolution has been the desire of the PNG government to ensure that educational decisions are responsive and relevant to what the people at the local levels regard as "meaningful development". In an attempt to reform education, the government has supported a number of educational initiatives designed to socialise children into traditional subsistence lifestyles. However, at the same time formal education has also continued to put an emphasis on the preparation of children for life in a cash economy. The government has thus sought to reconcile two very different visions of what "development" means for PNG. Yet, this goal has not been easy to realise. While its "indigenisation" policies have sought to reflect the aspirations of the indigenous people for rural development and improvement in their quality of life, such policies have remained trapped within a broader framework of political objectives which are concerned more with the imperatives of a "cash economy" and globalisation, rather than with "PNG ways".

The possibilities of "indigenisation" are constrained by a number of factors many of which lie outside the country. These are expressed through the advice of western consultants, aid agencies and the international banks. Their advice is based on a western idea of development, but also on a form of administrative rationality that defines the way they believe educational processes should be managed and reformed. This mode of thinking is often referred to, following Weber (1948), as bureaucratic rationality. Above all, it assumes administration to be culturally neutral. This work challenges this basic assumption, and suggests that the administrative advice that most western consultants offer to PNG is anything but neutral: it is informed by a range of values that are located within particular western traditions. A major problem for PNG is, however, that as a mode of thinking it has been internalised by key-players in PNG education, who have been educated and trained in western schools, both in PNG and overseas. These administrators assume the validity of bureaucratic rationality and thus find it difficult to imagine systems of governance that do not depend on the ideas of hierarchical management, depersonalised social relations asymmetrical communication between the administrators and the administered.

The data collected suggest further that this application of bureaucratic rationality defines the nature of centre-periphery relations within PNG educational administration. Key administrators and politicians consider the hierarchical arrangements implicit in an educational bureaucracy as not only inevitable but also desirable. They argue that the complexity of educational administration in a society as large and diverse as PNG requires hierarchical organisation to ensure the maximum amount of efficiency and effectiveness. This argument conveniently complements one of the main objectives of education in PNG, that is, to maintain its national cohesion. This rhetorical appeal further serves to consolidate the position of central bureaucracy. Ideological and administrative factors thus complement each other, showing how the application of bureaucratic rationality poses a major barrier to democratic reforms in PNG educational administration.

This book also suggests that the maintenance of hierarchical arrangements in PNG educational administration is further facilitated by the role of a group of people known locally as the Bigmen (Faracalas, 1994). These mostly western-trained administrators and politicians derive their

authority from their positions within the PNG state which had been accorded to them during the colonial period. Most of them do not have traditional authority, but instead rely upon the legal-rational structures of the state to carry considerable influence. The data collected indicate that these Bigmen are unwilling to give up their powers. Many of them fear the loss of authority and importance they currently enjoy as the main providers of goods and services. Moreover, the interests of Bigmen often coincide with those of the expatriates and foreign consultants. Most of the Bigmen and expatriates recognise that any policy of devolution requires returning some decision-making powers to the traditional leaders who are still respected in the villages. The motivations of the foreign consultants are much more complex, and consist in a desire to manage resources efficiently so that the nation can "develop" as quickly as possible.

The Bigmen, the expatriates and the foreign consultants all agree, however, that in order to develop economically, Papua New Guinea requires aid in the form of human resources, capital and technology. More than fifty percent of the nation's income is derived from aid (Chan, 1993a). The aid is not without its conditions, however. In receiving this aid, the PNG government undertakes to abide by the conditions set by the aid agencies. This means that the government does not have a free hand in the development of its national policies. Immediately after independence, the government attempted to avoid a relationship of dependency upon aid agencies by insisting on its sovereign right to make its own policies. However, in recent years, the approval of aid and loans has increasingly become conditional, dictating not only PNG's national development priorities in their broadest outline, but also in the details of financial strategies and administrative procedures (Chan, 1993b). The data collected suggest that the conditions dictated by aid agencies and international financial institutions place restrictions on not only the economic sector priorities but also the policies and programs within the social, cultural and educational sectors.

Collectively, these considerations go a long way to explaining why it has been so difficult to implement the policies of devolution in PNG educational administration. The book suggests that there is no single explanation of the problems of devolution in PNG. However, it argues that each of the factors identified in this section articulate with what I have identified as the new ideological and hegemonic expressions of colonialism in PNG. It maintains that the colonial legacy functions in PNG education in a number of complex and intersecting ways. I have suggested that an understanding of this legacy is essential for the construction of a postcolonial system of education in PNG which provides maximum opportunity for all its citizens to participate in making decisions about their educational futures. However, it has to be admitted that the ideological, political and administrative factors which constrain the possibilities of democratic reform are likely to persist in PNG, but at least the analysis of the kind presented here might enable us to engage with these factors in a more informed and principled manner. The aspirations of this book are thus limited: confined to analysis, rather than venturing into prescribing specific solutions which need to be considered and negotiated at every level of educational administration in PNG.

About Copyright

To disseminate otherwise or republish, requries written permission.  Contact:  John Evans, by email, Papua New Guinea.

Note - While efforts are made to ensure accuracy this publication could include errors or inaccuracies and no responsibility is taken for the consequences of its use. Information will be updated on a regualar basis and content can be expected to vary considerably over time.

About BUAI

Web site sponsors

• Sponsorship by Canada's IDRC
  Startup funding and publishing support. (see also www.idrc.ca  The International Development Research Centre, a public corporation created by the Canadian government  and www.idrc.org.sg and www.PanAsia.org.sg International Development Research Centre, Southeast and East Asia Region.)
• Help Resources (Inc) Wewak, PNG
  Editorial & publishing support.
  (see also Help Resources - NGO profile

Associated Projects
www.ngo.org.pg is a related project sponsored under the same initiative.  This web site has some of the most comprehensive information on the non-governmental-organisations (NGOs) working in Papua New Guineaa (PNG) and also provides a hosting service for NGOs presently unable to design and host their own sites.

Credits

Web Site Photographic Contributions
Marsha Berman