ABSTRACT
Provision for the education of the children of highlanders living in Papua and West Papua is patchy and diverse. This chapter outlines the history of schooling in Papua and the problems of the current formal education system. It argues that foreign agencies wanting to help solve those problems must recognise the issues of power involved in formal education, which the author have analysed, after Bishop, according to initiation, benefits, representation, legitimating and accountability. The chapter examines potential alternatives to traditional models in which outsiders control each of these areas, and argues for collaborative partnerships. It disagrees with those who suggest that only indigenous people are equipped to solve the dilemmas discussed. The chapter thinks both anthropologists and foreign educators who recognize the ways that research and education have historically operated hierarchically, and who are committed to working collaboratively, can have a role to play in developing more just forms of education for indigenous Papuans.
