Madang Province Universal Basic Education in 2019
Madang Province comprises six districts: Madang, Bogia, Sumkar, Usino Bundi and Rai Coast. There are 16 local level governments (LLGs) in the province.
In 2011, the population was estimated at about 493,906 with a growth rate of 2.7% . The province accounted for 6.8% of PNG’s total population. Madang District is the most populated district comprising 23% of the population followed by Sumkar (17%), Raicoast (17%), Middle Ramu (16%), Raicoast (15%), Bogia (15%) and Usino Bundi (12%). Of this population, there are about 143,185 school-age children (6-14 years old) in the province.
Geographical isolation of many communities in the districts continues to hinder progress towards the goal of universal basic education. Roads from the main township of Madang to districts like Rai Coast has been impassable for the last decade and will continue to hinder access to services for the population if maintenance work is not done. In the Middle Ramu District, isolated communities in Simbai and Josephstal have no road links and as such contribute to denial of the right to access services at service ports. Road access within the Madang town area to the North Coast of Sumkar and Bogia Districts usable but the province has yet to cater for the geographically isolated populations.
The province has 531elementary and 255 primary schools. These schools are provided by the government as well as non-government organizations such as the churches which operate as Agency Schools.
Figure 1 Access Rate by districts
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Figure 2 Cohort Retention Rate by districts
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Figure 3 Examination Pass Rate by districts
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Explanatory notes
Figure 1 shows that the access rates is estimated at 59 percent of six-year-old children enrolled at the point of admission at elementary prep in New Ireland. About six out of every 10 children who are six years of age are enrolled in elementary prep. At the district level, three districts of Madang, Middle Ramu and Usuno Bundi recorded below the national average and more effort is required in enabling all six-year-old children to enter first grade of basic education The challenge now is for these three districts to double their efforts in increasing access for all children turning six years of age to enter the first grade (elementary prep) of basic education.
Figure 2 shows that the cohort retention rates of 76 percent for the province. Cohort retention rates are high for all districts except Sumkar and Usino Bundi districts. About eight out of every 10 students continue their basic education until successfully completing Grade 8. However, there is still a high number of children leaving school before completing Grade 8. The challenge for all districts is to put more efforts in improving cohort retention rates to enable more children to continue schooling until they successfully complete grade 8.
Figure 3 shows the provincial examination mark and was estimated at 50 percent and only 4 districts in the province, they performed below the Grade 8 National Examination average in all subject areas. Examination results are above the national average but poor performance in Madang District pulls the provincial average down. All districts can do more work on improving quality of learning outcomes and requires more work to improve the outcome.
Technical notes
Access to education refers to the number of 6-year-old children who are enrolled in elementary prep expressed as a percentage of population of 6-year old’s of school-age population which is 6 years to 14 years.
Cohort Retention Rate refers to the number of pupils who successfully completed an education cycle as a percentage of the same group of pupils who started the first grade (elementary prep) of the cycle earlier. A cohort retention rate of 100 percent, or all children who started first grade, completing final grade is the target.
Grade 8 Examination Pass Rate refers to examination mean as an estimate of the average achievement in the subject and is found by dividing the sum of marks scored by the number of students. Each examination is out of 50, hence the sum of the three subjects is 150. The average score of the three subjects is divided by 150 and multiply by 100 to get a percentage score. The target would be 100 percent
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