PNG’s first ever textbook

FEATURE

AT the start of the school year in February, primary school students were given the country’s first-ever national textbook.
According to the Japan International Corporation Agency (Jica), this was the first time the children had a mathematics textbook of their own.
“The books are colourful with a lot of photographs and illustrations,” some students said.
“It’s going to be fun to study.”
A teacher also looked at the teacher’s manual and said happily: “It has the information necessary for teaching and it also includes diagrams for the blackboard.”
“Until today, in Papua New Guinea, there had been no uniform national textbooks or teacher’s manuals,” Jica said.
“And the country had been facing a decline in children’s academic performance.
Jica, being involved in education support for the country for many years, worked with PNG’s Department of Education to develop textbooks and teacher’s manuals for science and mathematics over the past four years to improve children’s academic performance.

How to improve the quality of education
In addition to the shortage of teaching materials, a lack of teachers and poor teaching skills, the decline of children’s academic performance was caused by the outcomes-based curriculum (OBC)” that was introduced in 2001 with support from Australia.
In the OBC, although the target learning outcomes were clearly set out, there were no educational materials (textbooks and teacher’s manuals, as well as equipment and materials) for supporting the lessons.
It was also difficult for teachers to assure the quality of classroom teaching.
In 2013, Papua New Guinea decided to discontinue OBC.
Then, the Standard-based curriculum (SBC) was re-introduced.
It is a curriculum which has educational materials developed to support lessons and teaching, and was carried out to attain the education standards set by the Education Department.
To achieve this, the Department of Education and Jica co-launched the project for improving the quality of mathematics and science education in 2016.
The project focussed on the development of textbooks and teacher’s manuals on science and mathematics for third to sixth grade students.

A Japanese textbook company provides know-how
While a Japanese textbook company provided the know-how, the textbooks developed this time were thoroughly localised; they were written in English which is easy for children and teachers to understand, and they included photographs and content suited to the culture and nature of the country.
“Through continuous trial runs at schools, we completed textbooks that were suitable for Papua New Guinea, while making use of Japan’s know-how,” says Ito Akinori, a Jica expert and chief adviser of the project.
Akinori said the passion of the Papua New Guinean people supported the development of textbooks.
He spoke about the following episode: “One night, when the staff from the Education Department and teachers from the pilot schools gathered to work on the textbook verification tasks, we suddenly experienced a blackout due to a power outage.
“It was already about 8pm, so I thought, ‘We’re going to finish today,’ but the members continued to work by turning on the lights of their smartphones.
“I was deeply moved by the fact that they did not stop working until the work was done.”
It took about four years to complete the science and mathematics textbooks and teacher’s manuals.
Starting with the new term in February 2020, third and fourth grade students across the country began using the textbooks; from February 2021, fifth and sixth-year students are scheduled to start using them.

Creating training materials for teachers to promote the use of textbooks
The project also distributes training materials with DVDs for teachers so that new textbooks can be used without confusion by those who have been teaching without textbooks.
“The completion of the national textbooks does not mean that we have reached the goal,” Akinori said.
“Rather, what is important is what we will do from now on.
“Going forward, I hope that the Department of Education will thoroughly engage in raising awareness on how to use the textbooks and fully make use of them.
“While teachers in PNG may not yet appreciate the value of the textbooks as we expected, the need may arise for other grades and different subjects as they continue to use them.
“I’m looking forward to positive reactions. There are still issues to be solved.
“We will continue to work together to improve the quality of education in Papua New Guinea.”