Uni to integrate gender equality as curriculum

Education

THE University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Business and Public Policy will integrate gender equality into its curriculum as part of a new approach to changing behaviours.
A gender workshop was held at the university recently for the school of business staff to ensure gender issues become a part of student learning.
The workshop was funded by the Association of Commonwealth Universities and facilitated through the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct.
Vice-chancellor Professor Albert Mellam said the institution had an important role to play in creating change.
“Gender equality is so fundamentally critical to PNG,” he said.
“This is one way of contributing to pushing back against these problems that are endemic across the world.”
The school of business executive dean, Professor Lekshmi N. Pillai, said the time is right to embrace gender equality and embed it as part of the curriculum.
“Sustainable future growth must be based on the right principles, practices and policies,” Pillai said.
“We can integrate gender into the way business, economics and public policy are taught and change the way students think about these issues.”
Head of Business Management Evelyn Kua said education is crucial for improving opportunities for women in Papua New Guinea.
“We need to create a curriculum that can bridge the gap between tradition and the realities of today,” Kua said.
The university’s school of business will use the outcomes of the workshop to promote gender equality as part of its curriculum, as part of the Papua New Guinea’s gender and social inclusion (Gesi) policy and the ethics and values-based executive leadership and management capability framework to improve bridge gender gap.