SchoolAID - Support Girls' Education in Papua New Guinea

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Support Girls' Education in Papua New Guinea

Imagine not being able to attend school just because you are a girl. How would you feel if you had to clean, cook and look after your siblings all day?

The largest proportion of girls not attending school in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is from the Eastern Highlands Province. This project supports girls like Susannah who says in her local language Melpa, "I feel very sad that I can't go to school. I used to like reading and writing so much."

Download the Project Description here in pdf or word.

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Papua New Guinea has the lowest number of children enrolled in school in all of East Asia and the Pacific region, with only 75% of children attending school

The number of girls in school in PNG is substantially lower than boys

Many girls miss out on the opportunity to go to school as they have to help their family in the home

The literacy rate is only 51% for girls aged over 10, compared to 61% of boys

Check out the following school groups who Support Girls' Education! Click on their school profile link below...

Social Justice Leaders of Camberwell Girls Grammar School The 8.1 Crusaders of Kormilda College Secondary School Ryan Catholic College Mercy Girls at Santa Maria College

Update 1: 14 April, 2008

Susannah's Story
Susannah was 10 years old when she had to drop out of school. She had to help farm the family coffee plot in the rich and fertile Nebiliyer district of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

Susannah was told by her parents that they could only afford to keep her older brother and sister at the boarding school where they now study. Her older sister is in grade 11 and her brother is in grade 10. Their fees are a total of 2,000 Kina per year (approximately AU$750). Including her uniform, it would cost an extra 200 Kina per year (AU$75) to let Susannah stay in school.

Susannah smiles bashfully when she passes her friends dressed in uniform walking home from school. She is just returning from four hours of handpicking tiny red coffee beans from bushes which she carries in a basket. By contrast, her friends are carrying school books.

When asked what she enjoys doing now Susannah thinks for a long time and bites her finger nervously. "I don't know. The thing I enjoyed was school. I only think about school. That is what my heart wants. I feel very sad that I can't go to school", says Susannah in the local language Melpa. "I used to like reading and writing so much", she says as she makes her way home with her basket of coffee beans.

Susannah represents the crisis of girls' access to education in Papua New Guinea.

As poverty spreads many parents question the value of sending their children to school. The girls suffer especially.