ABSTRACT
Although Papua New Guinea's (PNG's) economy has been growing since 2003, much of the population of over 6 million has yet to see growth translated into improvements in education and health. 2 Literacy rates have risen from roughly 40 per cent to 60 per cent in the past two decades, and curricular reforms have been implemented, but education access, retention and achievement levels have remained stagnant. 3 In this context, PNG's National Research Institute (NRI) and the Australian National University (ANU) commenced a three-year public expenditure tracking exercise in 2012, including the tracking of funds to elementary and primary schools. 4 As the case of Papua New Guinea illustrates, it can be challenging to collect the necessary data and to engage policy-makers in the process. Papua New Guinea 47%
of people see the education system as corrupt or highly corrupt.
Source: Transparency International's ‘Global Corruption Barometer 2013’.
