ABSTRACT
When Papua New Guinea gained self-government in 1973 and independence in 1975, the new state did not fulfil the high hopes of many Papua New Guineans. It upheld old colonial borders, and embodied most of the old colonial injustices and values. In essence, it had become one among many states in the Commonwealth. It was not really the uniquely Melanesian state many Papua New Guineans had hoped for. Its parliamentary democracy copied the Westminster system, and its Head of State was Queen Elizabeth II, who was represented in Port Moresby by a Governor General. Its legal system distinguished between criminal and civil law, thus following Roman law. It had a Western economic system, postal services and telecommunication systems, and its media (including newspapers, radio and, later, television) repeated Western models, too. Its international airline, Air Niugini, connected Port Moresby with several Australian but very few Melanesian cities. The Royal Constabulary and the PNG Defence Force co-operated with Australian partners. Prior to independence, the educational system in PNG strictly followed the Australian pattern. The syllabus was altered slightly after independence, but the system as such remained unchanged: it was highly competitive and it provided for primary, secondary and tertiary education. Instruction in publicly maintained schools was in English, 1 which was a foreign language to all children, and the national elite, by and large, was an outcome of this system.
