The largest of the Pacific Island countries, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a population of more than 7 million but is still considered a small state of the Commonwealth. Papua New Guinea faces numerous development challenges, many of them related to health and natural resource management. 

 

 

School-age Population by Education Level1

1,119,034

 

728,582

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20161

40%

 

55%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education1

n/a

 

n/a

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

38.1%

 

n/a

Secondary (2016)

 

Tertiary (1999)

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in June 2021

 

Literacy rate (2012)1

60.3%

 

65.5%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

71%

 

73%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

3%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

65

 

60

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

1.9 47.6
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
0.2 10.9
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
4.7 11.2
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

COL’s current work in Papua New Guinea is primarily in the areas of technical and vocational skills development and technology-enabled learning. Papua New Guinea is a member of the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth, and it receives support from the Pacific Centre for Open and Flexible Learning for Development. Learners from Papua New Guinea have also benefited from COL’s open online courses and other resources.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL partners in Papua New Guinea include:

  • Department of Education
  • Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology
  • Servants of St. Joseph
  • University of Papua New Guinea