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There is no compulsory schooling in Papua New Guinea. The
children start in the 9-year elementary school when they are
7 years old. The high school is 4 years old. In 2001, 73% of
the relevant age group attended primary school. English is
the language of instruction for many children. There are two
universities and several teacher schools in the country.
According to UNESCO, approx. 44% of the adult population
illiterate (2001). See TOPSCHOOLSINTHEUSA for TOEFL, ACT, SAT testing locations and high school codes in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea was populated by Melanesian peoples already
2-3 thousand years BCE The population has traditionally been
spread over the dense tropical rainforest and isolated from
the outside world. Many of the residents of the Highlands,
where a third of the population lives, knew neither the
wheel nor the metal utensils before Europeans entered the
Highlands in 1930. Thus, over a short period of time, the
country has moved from the Stone Age to the Plastic Age, and
is currently experiencing an economic boom based on
the extraction of its mineral resources - copper, gold, oil
and hardwood.
The present Papua New Guinea is formed by merging the
Papua Territory - a British protectorate that was under
Australian administration from 1906 - and New Guinea, which
until World War I was a German colony. Subsequently, it was
administered by Australia under the mandate of the League of
Nations and later the United Nations. The process of
self-government began in 1964 and culminated with the
country's independence in 1975. That same year, the island
of Bougainville tried to disengage. It has rich gold and
copper resources and its population is more closely related
to the population of the Solomon Islands. Australia
continues to play a key role in the country - through
investment, military assistance and financial assistance.
The country is a parliamentary democracy, but the
political parties are more built on charismatic people and
regional supporters than on ideological differences. Despite
considerable apparent instability, the fact that no party
has the overweight has led the government to be based on
consensus.
While the country has close links to Australia, it plays
a kind of leadership role among the states of the South
Pacific. In 1979, it sent its military forces to crush an
insurgency attempt on the island of Espíritu Santo in the
Republic of Vanuatu led by Jemmy Stevens, who otherwise had
support from the French authorities and from North American
economic interests.
In May 1988, the country signed an agreement with Vanuatu
and Solomon Islands to preserve traditional Melanesian
culture. At the same time, it declared its support for
Kanaky's independence. Relations with Indonesia that have
occupied the western part of the island of New Guinea (Irian
Jaya province) are characterized by conflicts. In the
Indonesian province, the guerrilla movement operates Frit
Papua. During extensive maneuvers carried out by the
Indonesian military in 1984, 12,000 residents sought refuge
in Papua New Guinea.
The labor market is similar to the Australian with
minimum wages negotiated every 3 years, and at the same time
they are adjusted with the development of inflation. The
indigenous communities own 98% of the land. Their economy is
increasingly opening up to the outside world, and the
extraction of natural resources causes significant damage to
the environment.
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