PNG has put more children into schools but not enough qualified teachers in front of them

Papua New Guinea will need up to 124,000 teachers by 2033 to educate a growing number of pupils. But under the current system, teacher-training institutions can only accredit about 2,200 teachers a year.

In a new Lowy Institute Policy Brief, entitled Solving Papua New Guinea’s education crisis, Serena Sasingian argues that while the PNG government has steadily increased spending on education since 2020, to nearly K5 billion in the 2026 National Budget, this investment is not yet directed at the scale of the teacher-workforce problem. She highlights Wardstrip Demonstration Primary School in Port Moresby, where class sizes reportedly reach 80 students to one teacher, as an example.

“Expansion has outpaced the system’s capacity to ensure that enough appropriately qualified teachers are available to meet growing student demand,” writes Sasingian.

“PNG’s challenge is now structural: it must shift from expanding access to delivering learning under a school system that requires far more qualified teachers.”

“Meeting this challenge requires PNG to rebuild teaching as a valued profession capable of attracting, developing, and retaining high-performing graduates.”

Sasingian argues that the PNG government needs to introduce a ten-year national teaching workforce plan to improve the qualifications and professional training of existing teachers and build a stronger pipeline of qualified educators.

Sasingian also says the government needs to raise awareness about its National Education Plan to encourage schools, families, communities, government, and the private sector to take ownership of the plan to ensure its success.

Her Policy Brief also calls for fully funded teacher education for academically qualified students, greater investment in Flexible Open and Distance Education to upskill existing elementary teachers, and measures to make teaching a career that high-performing students actively choose.

KEY FINDINGS

• Papua New Guinea has succeeded in expanding access to elementary, primary, and secondary education but now faces the dual challenge of student retention and teaching quality. More than 2.3 million students are now enrolled as a result of successive reforms, but 72 per cent of ten-year-olds cannot read and understand a simple story, and large numbers never progress to secondary education.
  
• PNG needs between 98,000 and 124,000 teachers by 2033. Its training institutions produce about 2,200 a year, and more than 20,000 serving teachers are approaching retirement, meaning the workforce will barely grow. Annual output would need to at least triple to meet the target, while thousands of existing teachers would need upskilling.
  
• Education spending in PNG is increasing, but investment is not yet sufficiently directed to addressing the scale of the teacher-workforce problem. Meeting this challenge requires PNG to rebuild teaching as a valued profession capable of attracting, developing, and retaining high-performing graduates. Domestic budgets, concessional finance, and donor support need to be deliberately pointed at higher education, teacher training, Flexible Open and Distance Education, and scholarships to build the required workforce.

MEDIA CONTACT
Andrew Griffits
Head of Media and Communications
+61 2 8238 9035
media@lowyinstitute.org (Opens in new window)