National Schools of Excellence and PNG’s Education Future

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PNG’s National Schools of Excellence Policy 2020 represents one of the most ambitious reforms in the country’s education system. At its core, the policy recognizes that STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—is central to national development, global competitiveness, and long-term economic resilience. By upgrading National High Schools and select secondary schools into Schools of Excellence, the government aims to produce a generation of Papua New Guineans equipped to innovate, invent, and solve complex problems in a rapidly changing world.

Cover of PNG’s National Schools of Excellence Policy 2020, issued by the Department of Education to drive STEM-focused reforms and nurture the country’s future innovators.

The policy is rooted in broader national visions. PNG’s Vision 2050, Development Strategic Plan 2030, and Medium-Term Development Plans all emphasize the creation of a skilled workforce capable of driving a blended economy—combining extractive industries, services, knowledge, and technology. The Schools of Excellence are therefore not just about curriculum reform; they are an intervention designed to transform manpower capacity and align the education system with regional and global shifts in technological innovation.

A key feature of the policy is its merit-based selection. The top 5 percent of Grade 10 students are identified and given the opportunity to enter Schools of Excellence, where they undertake a STEM-focused curriculum alongside Humanities and Social Sciences. This strategy is meant to nurture PNG’s brightest students, providing them with an environment that emphasizes research, creativity, and innovation. By concentrating resources on a select pool of students, the policy seeks to raise national education standards to levels comparable with the “Asian Tigers,” who successfully leveraged STEM to fuel their economic transformation.

This emphasis on STEM directly complements my ongoing research into China–PNG Higher Education Exchange Programs. The findings from my LinkedIn-based digital fieldwork reveal that a significant proportion of PNG students in China are pursuing STEM-related studies. This aligns closely with the PNG government’s domestic policy direction and demonstrates how international scholarships and bilateral exchanges can support national education reforms. China’s higher education partnerships are thus reinforcing PNG’s aspirations to build a STEM-ready workforce.

However, the National Schools of Excellence Policy also highlights a critical challenge: weak institutional linkages at home. Tracer studies conducted in PNG reveal persistent difficulties in tracking alumni and maintaining systematic records. My research shows that digital platforms like LinkedIn can help address these gaps by enabling continuous engagement with dispersed alumni. If the Schools of Excellence are to achieve their intended outcomes, alumni engagement must be integrated into monitoring and evaluation frameworks, ensuring that overseas training and local reforms are coordinated and aligned with national priorities.

The policy also raises questions about equity and inclusion. While the top 5 percent of students will gain entry into Schools of Excellence, what happens to the other 95 percent? The policy outlines pathways through Provincial and District Schools of Excellence, Technical and Vocational Education, and other secondary schools Yet, ensuring quality across all these pathways is essential if PNG is to avoid creating a two-tier system that concentrates opportunity among a small elite while leaving the majority behind.

From a foreign policy perspective, the Schools of Excellence Policy and China’s Higher Education Exchange Programs are converging in important ways. Both are preparing PNG students for the demands of the 21st-century workforce, particularly in STEM. This convergence highlights the strategic importance of education in PNG’s bilateral relations with China and underscores how domestic and international education policies can be mutually reinforcing. For PNG, the challenge will be to harness these opportunities without becoming overly dependent on external partners.

Ultimately, the National Schools of Excellence Policy 2020 is a bold step toward transforming PNG’s education system into one that is globally competitive, technologically agile, and aligned with national development goals. Its success will depend not only on implementation at home but also on how well PNG integrates external partnerships, such as Chinese scholarships, into its broader education and development strategies. For policymakers, the task ahead is to ensure coherence across domestic reforms and international cooperation so that PNG can truly leverage education as a pillar of national progress.

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