'A lost decade?' report launch

A report based on two years of research and two surveys ten years apart was released on 30 October 2014 by a team of researchers from the National Research Institute (NRI) and the Development Policy Centre at The Australian National University (ANU).

The Australian launch was held in Canberra on 11 December.

This research compares surveys undertaken by NRI and their collaborating partners in 2002 and 2012 of some 360 primary schools and health care clinics across the country, from the national capital to the most remote districts.

The results show that PNG’s primary schools have expanded rapidly over the last decade, but that fewer services are now provided by its health clinics.

The report, A lost decade? Service delivery and reforms in Papua New Guinea, documents the differences across sectors and provinces and over time. It contains data on demand (student enrolments and patient numbers), staff numbers and conditions, facility conditions, and essential supplies such as textbooks and drugs.

Download the report

A lost decade? Service delivery and reforms in Papua New Guinea 2002-2012
Stephen Howes, Andrew Anton Mako, Anthony Swan, Grant Walton, Thomas Webster and Colin Wiltshire
October 2014
This report presents the results of a 2012 survey of 360 primary schools and health clinics across eight provinces in PNG, from the nation’s capital to its most far-flung and inaccessible regions. Many of the same facilities were surveyed at the start of the decade. By combining the two surveys, we can assess progress on health and education service delivery over time, and analyse the impact of important policy reforms.

» Full report PDF [PDF 5.8 MB]
» NRI Spotlight summary [PDF 1.3 MB]
» A3 flyer summary [PDF 4.1 MB]

Individual chapters
» Foreword, acknowledgements, map and summary [PDF 843KB]
» Chapter 1: Introduction [PDF, 498KB]
» Chapter 2: Method [PDF, 709KB]
» Chapter 3: Primary schools: 2002 to 2012 [PDF, 1.2MB]
» Chapter 4: Health clinics: 2002 to 2012 [PDF, 684KB]
» Chapter 5: Education financing the the Tuition Fee-Free policy [PDF, 559KB]
» Chapter 6: Health financing and the free health policy [PDF, 739KB]
» Chapter 7: DSIP: are health and education benefitting? [PDF, 516KB]
» Chapter 8: Facility level explanations of performance [PDF, 550KB]
» Chapter 9: Conclusion [PDF, 457KB]
» References and acronyms [PDF, 131KB]