Announcement of Papua New Guinea to Improve Secondary Education with World Bank Loan on March 29, 1984

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. *Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 84/55 Contact: Pushpa Schwartz March 29, 1984 (202) 477-3651 PAPUA NEW GUINEA TO IMPROVE SECONDARY EDUCATION WITH WORLD BANK LOAN Papua New Guinea will use a $49.3 million World Bank loan to increase the effectiveness of its secondary education system by expanding enrollment, revising curricula, and upgrading teachers' qualifications. The loan will support a $78.4 million project aimed at increasing the number of secondary school graduates from 7,500 to 11,000 by 1988. The Department of Education will implement a policy of hiring more trained nationals and fewer expatriate teachers, whose salaries are generally higher. The result will reduce costs per student over the four-year life of the nroject. Four subject specialists will help the Department prepare, print, and distribute curriculum-related materials, including 450,000 textbooks, for provincial high school students, who graduate after grade 10. National high schools, whose students attend until grade 12, will benefit from the provision of library books and the hiring of four coordinators to prepare core subject materials. To help raise educational standards of the country's teachers, the curriculum for teacher training will be revised to allow for subject specialization. The project will also provide a systematic means of upgrading practising teachers by arranging for advanced diploma programs in various specialties. The completion of 23 government provincial high schools with accommodation for about 4,500 students is also planned in regions where school attendance is below the national average. The new facilities will include classrooms, workshops, laboratories, and equipment. In addition to the World Bank loan, the proiect will receive support of $2.7 million from local church agencies that also administer schools, and $26.5 million from the Government of Papua New Guinea. The Bank loan is for 20 years, including five years of grace, with a variable interest rate linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75 percent on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 0.25 percent on the amount of the loan. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.