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20th Regional Workshop on the Capacity Building for Trainers of NFE Facilitators in Asia and the Pacific - Yangon, Myanmar, 3-12 December 2002 -

Country Report: Papua New Guinea Mr. Christopher Kepiou Research and Database Officer National Literacy & Awareness Secretariat, Department of Education Papua New Guinea I. Training program for NFE Facilitators A. Present Programmes 1.

Who (e.g. government, local government, NGOs, external agencies) designs and provides the training programs? At which level, (national, state/district, community)? It has now become very evident and common knowledge for most of our community oriented workers emphasizing that NGO's are the major players in providing services to the communities around Papua New Guinea. The Literacy and Awareness Secretariat works with NGOs that provide literacy and awareness services. At the same time, the Secretariat places major emphases on NGOs to establish literacy programs that has to be sustainable. Therefore, to achieve this objective, the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat, (being the only government agency, that works together with the NGOs and the village communities), assists in designing and providing their training programs. Meanwhile, some NGOs, Churches and government agencies design their own courses according to their own needs. The training programs are based in the provinces and districts, however, most of the programmes are conducted at the community level. The community looks after their own programs, but the programmes are monitored and evaluated by the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat. 2. What is the general scheme behind the training programmes? In other words, is there any overarching planning to conduct training programmes at different levels? There is no general scheme in place when planning our training programmes, however, when there is funds made available for this particular training, we go out to conduct the training for our trainers. Alternatives are also taken here when the village communities request for a capacity building workshop, and in this case, an in -service, or refresher course is arranged for the facilitators to attend the training. All trainings take place at the provincial, districts and community levels. 3. What are the funding sources for the training - is there regular budget from the government? The funding sources and its implication rests on the government of the day to meet the cost of all trainings.

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• The government allocates funds to all various departments in the country to meet the department's operations. In this case, the National Government allocates funding to the National Department of Education for the formal and non-formal sections. • The allocation for the non-formal sector are distributed to various sections for their operational use. The NLAS uses its share on its planned operation for the year. • There is no direct regular budget from the government to fund our training programmes. The budget is channelled through the process I have stated above. • In other extreme circumstances, the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat uses its recurrent budget to meet most of the trainings and workshops that are conducted in the country. In some cases, the provincial government and/or the Local Level government provide financial assistance to meet the training programmes in their respective areas. 4. What types and duration of training programmes are available for NFE facilitators? (pre -service, in -service, short courses and training of trainers) Papua New Guinea has four types of training of trainers in our training programs. These are informal: • pre-service courses which takes 1 - 2 weeks • in-service courses would only cover at least 3 - 4 days • short courses will take 2 - 3 days; this is normally for capacity building of our trainers • training of trainers course normally takes one month. The pre-service courses for NFE facilitators normally last for two weeks depending on who is organizing the course. In the past, some of the government sponsored literacy courses takes up to a four to five week period. This long period of time was not very encouraging due to participants being away from their families for too long. Therefore, the duration of the workshops was reduced to a two weeks long course. During these two weeks, we trained the teachers on how to teach the illiterate adults and how to produce literacy materials in their own languages. The facilitators are taught to write, print and publish short and long stories that they have been trained to do during the course. In-service and continued follow -up workshops, are carried out after the facilitators have been trained and have worked for several months in the fields and classrooms. The supervisor of the programme, or the Provincial Literacy Coordinator, or the District Literacy Coordinator are supposed to carry out visits to the facilitators in their place of duty. They recommend inservice courses after identifying the problems and areas of weakness. Short courses usually take one to two day. This short courses are mainly conducted for the NGOs, PLCs and representatives from other government agencies on capacity building. They are capacity building workshops and accommodates more participants in taking part in these workshops than other workshops. It is also known as the PLC and NGO networking workshop. The training of trainers course is a three to four week long course. This course takes place at the provincial level where all the trainers from around the country come together at Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base http://www.accu.or.jp /litdbase

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an arranged venue provided by the coordinator of the host province. The course was normally sponsored by the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat, using the recurrent budget, but when the NLAS is faced with financial constraints, the course comes to a stand still until money is made available. 5. How are these programmes organized? (eg. mobile course that trainers travel to different activity sites/regular course that trainees gather to a specific venue) The facilitators' workshops and the in-service workshops will be held at the community level. The nationally organized workshops are sometimes held in community levels and other times at resorts where it is affordable. Some workshops are conducted in the city, however this seems very expensive and depends entirely on the availability of funds, resources and facilities. These programmes are organized in consultation with the provincial authorities, the division of education and the local community authorities from where the training is be conducted and carried out. The participation of the local community is encouraged. The trainees are selected from within the community and their neighbouring communities who also show interest in attending the workshop. After the training, the trainees are officially certified by the Secretary of Education as facilitators and trainers of their own programmes. 6. What are the main contents o f the training programmes? The main content of the programme for the facilitators is to introduce them to the: • National Literacy Policy; that introduces the responsibilities of each level of government that has to support the NFE training programmes in the province, district or community. • National Literacy Plan; that introduces the implementation of National Literacy Policy • Adult Literacy Workers’ Manual; that introduces the teaching methodology and the materials production for adult literacy schools • The principles of adult learning; that introduces how adult should be taught, and the type of topics that are appropriate to them. We don't have to treat adults like kids. • Practice teaching; this is to provide and improve trainers' and facilitators' • self-confidence, prepare teaching lessons and preparation of the right type of materials to be used in the classrooms. • What is literacy? The policy and plan distinguished the definition of literacy. The definition of literacy, have been interpreted further than just in knowing the skills of reading and writing. • Writing for adult learners; that introduces the type of lessons and the theme of the topic for the day the adult students will be taught on, and how to make a big book; a small book; a poster; Lesson Planning. All facilitators should introduce to this methodological approach. The trainer’s course content would be: • Planning a workshop Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base http://www.accu.or.jp /litdbase

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• • • • • •

Proposal writing Preparing reports Budgeting and acquitting of funds Evaluation and monitoring of the workshop How to start a program Materials production workshop

The trainer should be familiar with the content of the manuals e.g writing stories on the stencil and printing copies of big and small books on silkscreen printing boards. The content of these workshops often come from the teachers or the facilitators of the programmes, the supervisors, PLCs and the DLCs. The facilitators have their input in these workshops. Our goal is that they tell the trainer their needs and then he plans accordingly. Short courses: Capacity Building The PLC, NGO and the Local Level Government (LLG) networking workshops are conducted separately. Due to financial constraints and in order to facilitate communication among the three groups, we are trying to combine the three groups in one workshop. The content of these workshops are somewhat similar to the in- service workshop where the participants share their strengths and problems. Also in these workshops new concepts are discussed: Provincial Literacy Plans are drafted, based on the National Literacy Plan, The roles and responsibilities of the LLGs, Duty Statements of the PLCS, EFA and what NFE can do to achieve the EFA goals, are included in the Plan. 7. Who are the trainers? The trainers are supposed to be the experienced teachers, Provincial Literacy Coordinators including the Non-Formal Education Officers. They are the facilitators of the training programmes and that they carry out and conduct training workshops for NFE facilitators and carry out other related courses in relation to the NFE training programmes. 8. How are the participants of the training programme selected? Trainers are selected from within the provincial and national education divisions who then become Provincial Non-Formal Education Officers, (PNFEO). These officers managed all operations of the NFE. The NFE includes Vocational Centres, Literacy Programmes, CLCs, Women and Girls programmes and Out-of -school youth programmes. The trainers are advised to apply for the position and then are selected through merits and experience. The participants are selected from the community in which the training course is conducted. The local community leaders make the selection and appoint the trainees to attend the training courses. 9 How do you assess the usefulness and impact of the training programmes? What impact has the past training programme brought to the actual NFE activities? a. Assessment The usefulness and impact of the training programmes will only be assessed by; • carrying out a NFE facilitators' training workshop. • evaluating and monitoring the programmes, Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base http://www.accu.or.jp /litdbase

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• •

questionnaire visiting the programmes

b. NFE activities This is done in two ways. Firstly, training is evaluated on the last day of the workshop. The training can be reflected by the quality of materials they produced. Secondly, you visit the program sites and observe the facilitators at work. There is a questionnaire filled out as you observe the facilita tors at work and the use of the materials produced will reflect your training. Effectiveness and quality is what we wanted and expected to achieve at the end of the day. B. Issues 1. What are the urgent needs for up-grading facilitators’ skills? In PNG, the urgent needs to up-grade NFE facilitators' skills is to: • conduct more in-service, pre-service, short courses and • conduct more training courses once or twice a year. • produce a simple teacher’s guides and manuals that will be used by the facilitators during their training courses, to up-grade their skills. • up-grade the facilitators' skill in our training centres, like the Girls and Boys Vocational training centres 2. What are the needs and resources required by providers of training programmes for NFE facilitators? Need and resources for: • funds needed to assist programmes • resources required to sustain the programmes • a simple teacher's guide for the facilitators to read and follow • provide resources for women and girls in the remote areas PNG has surplus materials that required adaptation and translation into languages and can be taught by facilitators in training programmes. However, one of the greatest need for the providers of training programmes for NFE facilitators is that there should be sufficient funding from the government to meet the costs of the training programmes and to make the programmes more sustainable. For instance, if the skills of planting vanilla beans is taught during the training, the need for raising income and arranging buyers to buy the vanilla beans should also be taught to the trainees and facilitators. The NLAS is now working closely with Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to revive all Literacy and Awareness Materials Production (LAMP) Centres in the country to print quality and quantity materials for all the facilitators in each province. The materials that are produced by the trainees and facilitators during their in-service or pre-service training will be used as their teaching aids. There are only four provinces in the country that have a very well established LAMP Centres in operation. Whilst others are either closed down or replaced due to lack of funds from the government to keep them working. Meanwhile, it is still impossible to produce and print Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base http://www.accu.or.jp /litdbase

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these needed material because the Lamp Centres in some provinces are inoperable due to lack of funding from the national and provincial governments. 3. What are the important attributes for trainers of NFE facilitators? Some important attributes: • trainers of NFE facilitators should act as a model • experienced teacher • must have confidence and courage to teach • know how to prepare lessons and lesson plan. • providing to right materials for the right people C. Future Plans 1. What is the national (overall) plan of providing adequate training programs for NFE facilitators to meet the needs and requirements raised above? • two national workshops for PLCs and NGOs are to be conducted in 2003 • two regional workshops for the implementation of the National Literacy Policy to be conducted in 2003 • develop a women and girls training centre/programme with initial planning for 2003-2007 There are four main regions that make up Papua New Guinea. The regions are Highlands, MAMOSE, New Guinea Islands and Southern, (see map provided). In our Project Plan of Operations (PPO) for next year 2003, we have planned to run two national workshops for materials production and two regional workshops to implement the National Literacy Policy. We will still assist the NGOs, Churches and community based programmes and other literacy implementers if they seek assistance from the NLAS. The annual workshop will be held if our funding situation guarantees it. Provincial visits, monitoring and evaluations are also necessary for NLAS to assist and assess the programs. Since the inception of the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat in 1991, it became interested in the program, particularly, as it is addressing NFE type programmes. Literacy is now the focal point of concern in PNG. Therefore, all NFE type programmes are now termed as literacy oriented. We are also planning to revive and strengthen the operations of LAMP Centres throughout the country through the assistance from the Japanese Government. II. Plan for National Follow-up Activities of the 20th Regional Workshop • Training of NFE personnel at national and/or grassroots level • Materials production for materials to be used for training activities A. Priority Needs The need has been to enable every citizen to receive basic and functional literacy, to enable them to be active agents in their communities and the people. The need for learning materials are to be prepared by the facilitators, learners, and the resource people from the community and the neighboring villages.

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Other materials that are relevant to the needs of the trainers are to be distributed by the different departments upon request by the facilitator. The awareness and teaching posters on health related problems such as HIV/AIDS, Diahorrea, malaria and many more, have been provided by the Health Department. The department of environment and conservation and the forestry, have contributed a lot of awareness posters on logging, waste management and care of marine life to make people aware of the dangers of destroying their ecology. Forestry with Law and Order also supply awareness materials in booklets, posters and leaflets. There are also video tapes on some of the problems mentioned above. Some of the videos are obtained from churches and organizations that produce awareness videos. Some of the materials prepared are on real life situations. Others are instructional. Materials have been produced on income generation that have built or made an impact and encourages our women to market their products that they grow in their gardens. The real need for the women of these villages are to improve the quality of meals using the local food. A book of simple recipes is needed. The illustrations are done by the participants who are able to draw the pictures of what is there. We use the silk screens and stencils to make the number of copies required. B. Objectives and Content • Develop an integrated Non-Formal Education programme with partner organizations • To raise literacy level and eradicate illiteracy in PNG • Build capacity of NFE facilitators during training courses and in-service courses • Develop a Provincial Literacy Policy and Provincial Literacy Plan, using samples of the National Literacy Policy and Plan. • Develop and maintain comprehensive literacy data -base for PNG • Establish effective networking with concerned NFE programmes and literacy implementers, at government, Churches, NGOs, Business houses and international agencies • Develop specific NFE programmes for women and girls in remote and rural locations in PNG • Support and strengthen the traditional and cultural values through NFE training programmes Conduct intensive and extensive training workshops in the four regions mentioned above, at the provincial and district levels • Support Education Reform process through NFE programmes. • To provide training skills for capacity building for trainers of NFE facilitators, using these resource materials; - Handbook for Non-Formal Adult Education Facilitators - 'PALM' - Package for developing Adult Learning Materials - containing these materials; * Handbook for Adult Learning Materials Development at community level * Literacy Clip-Art and Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base http://www.accu.or.jp /litdbase

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* AJP Materials Kit • To give opportunities to participants to go through the steps of participatory methods C. Tentative Title of the Training Programme The tentative title of the training programme will be NFE Capacity building for Women's and Girls training programme. The NLAS have incorporated their operational plan with the UNICEF to establish a women and girls programme in a remote location of PNG. This will be an initial pilot project and the first of its kind to be established in PNG, besides the formal Girls Vocational or technical schools as it is known now. This pilot project is mainly focusing on our women and girls in the in-formal section. D. Venue, Participants, Trainers, Training Resources to be Used The venue of the proposed pilot project is the same area that a team of NLAS officers are to conduct a case study on the extinction/dying of languages and the revival of the dead languages. The proposed site will be selecting their own participants and prepare their own training resources whilst the NLAS selects the trainers and facilitators to conduct the training. The site is situated in the remote jungle and highlands of PNG, (see map provided). E. Impact of the Planned Training Programme The complexity of this planned proposal project/workshop is mainly funding. • • •

Funding implication Resources implication Follow -up plans are also considered, however the national follow -up activities cannot be implemented until funds is made available by the national government. The trainers that have attended these types of training programme are to be used as facilitators in future training. Meanwhile, participants who have attended and those who will be attending ACCU regional workshops are to be involved in conducting workshops and preparing materials for continuing education in the remote areas of PNG. Provide more funds for the facilitators' travel expenses, accommodation and meals

•

F. Possible Obstacles The national and the provincial governments do not have sufficient money to implement the NFE training programmes, in this case, the following problems are: • • • • • • •

Funding implication Insufficient resources Situation of the area and/or geographical implication Weather condition cannot allow for carrying out workshops Tribal fights in the area will hinder the operations Transport fund and hire are not organized in advance Rascal activities, etc.

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G. How the Obstacles can be Overcome? The national and provincial governments to allocate more fund in the next budget to cater for NFE training programmes in the provinces, districts and communities. • National and Provincial Governments to provide funding for officers to do the task • Resources are sufficient, in terms of manpower, materials and transport. etc . • Equipment; use whatever is possible • Transport for hire is made available by the people • Prevent rascals activities • Weather is fine for dinghies to travel up the river • Tribal fights are minimized III. NFE Adult Learning Materials Developme nt The Non-Formal adult literacy programs are activities, which are outside the formal education system. This includes adults, out-of-school youths and pre-aged children who are not catered for, by the formal education system. The adult learning materials includes reading, writing, and numeracy skills. Materials may also include skills for life classes such as mechanics or sewing. In PNG, we develop our NFE adult learning materials production using various methods such as: • writing and printing of short and long stories in vernacular, using stencils • writing and printing small books and big books in vernacular, using stencils • writing and counting numeracy in own languages Apart from writing, adults are also introduced to reading their stories and the Bibles in their own language. They are introduced to other aspects of skills such as creating stories on a particular theme like; • • • •

Environmental studies Community life and culture Physical education Health and other related topics

A. Types of Materials Available • • • • •

Stationeries Posters Big books and small books Story books Shell books

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B. Main Process of Materials Development At the national level, modern equipment are used to produce and develop materials. However, at the district and community level, the materials are produced using silk screens. This is the most cost effective process used in any communities in PNG. The learners find this process more effective and very efficient and really suit their needs. C. Developers The developers of the materials are the community themselves. They are the very people that create, produce and print the materials. We, at the national and provincial level only assist them in training, financing the cour se, expertise and supervisory and advisory. The NFE facilitators at each level go out to the community and assist them to develop, produce, and print their materials. D. Financial Sources: There is no regular budget from the government due to the fact that the government does not include Non-formal activities in its budget allocation. Each NGOs running its own NFE activities provide funds for their NFE programmes. E. Problems Encountered • Difficulties in securing funds to effectively manage a strong NFE activities • Distribution and dissemination of adult literacy materials are not getting to the provinces • Adults loose interest when materials are not forthcoming F. Problem Solution • Secure funding from the government • Distribute and disseminate adult literacy kits to the province, district and community • Produce, print and develop more adult materials at the national level G. Examples of Innovative Materials • Shell books - stories written in English, Tokpisin and Hiri Motu (two of PNG's national languages) • Big books - written in English and adapted into local languages • Posters - National Literacy Week Theme written in PNG's national languages • Stories - written in English and transferred to Tokpisin, Hiri Motu and the local vernacular

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