This report is the outcome of a study ofpublic spending and service delivery issues in Papua NewGuinea (PNG) undertaken as part of the work on the PNGPoverty Assessment. The study itself is the result of acollaborative effort involving several agencies andorganizations including the National Research Institute, theNational Department of Education, the Department of NationalPlanning and Rural Development (DNPRD), AusAID and the WorldBank. The PESD study is undertaken in a challenging economicand social context for PNG with growing concerns aboutdelivery of basic services. The PNG economy has been in astate of recession since the mid-1990s with negative growthin 7 of the last 9 years. The fiscal situation has beencompromised by large deficits. Debt-to-GDP ratio has risento levels where debt servicing is significant claim on totalrevenues. Poverty levels have been rising. A growingimperative to contain levels of spending has raisedsignificant concerns for maintaining the level of basicservices while needs have grown, and it has also raisedpertinent questions about how effectively social spending istranslating into the actual delivery of services. The studyfocuses on the education sector though its findings havewider relevance. The problems that plague the educationsector have close parallels in other sectors. The reportpresents some illustrative data for the health sector forwhich a limited amount of primary information was collected,but the study’s inquiry into conditions promoting orimpeding effective service delivery in education has broaderrelevance for other sectors in PNG, and beyond that forother countries too.
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