31/08/2019

The Staff Organizations. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (4)


"We think of politics in terms of power and who has the power. Politics is the end to which that power is put." (Ngugi wa Thiong'o, famous Kenyan - Kikuyu writer)


Previous blog posts in this series:
Part 1 -  A Childhood Dream. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (1)
Part 2 - Employable Graduates. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (2)
Part 3 - The Student Movement. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (3)
Part 4 - The Staff Organizations. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (4)
Part 5-  The Opportunity Costs of Navel Gazing.  Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (5)


PNG Attitude Postings

Background

I want to thank my 7,000+ followers on twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for their encouraging comments on this series, and Keith Jackson for publishing the short versions. Many of my followers are students, sponsors or relatives of students, or among the 6,000+ graduates of which I signed their degrees. Thank you all.

More and more, I am convinced eventually the PNG University of Technology will eventually be transformed from a joint criminal organization, and a cesspit of greed, spite and mediocrity (as described in earlier episodes), into a true university delivering highly competent and employable graduates. It is up to us to decide whether we want this sooner, or rather in say a decade, when all current protagonists probably have passed on given their age and bad health.

Before describing my experience with the university staff organization, I will make a few remarks on the economic and moral environment in which PNG universities operate. The disastrous state of the economy since Peter O'Neil took over in 2012, stimulated dishonest and opportunistic behaviour. Dishonesty in turn was further justified by exceptionalist 'logic', and the fundamental difficulty many PNGeans have that everybody is equal before the law, and rules should be applied to everyone without exception. The tribal "wantok" system seems the only system that works, and it is what many people are still most comfortable with.

Since 2012, continuing misgovernment, thievery and wasteful spending put a terrible stress on society due to Peter O'Neill's callous and delusional economic policies, which only produced exclusive benefits for his cronies in Port Moresby. In 2014, for example, in some areas in the highlands there was a fully fledged famine, and at some point the World Food Program was supporting over 250,000 people with food aid. The non-payment of LNG revenues to landowners by the government, has led to a continuing civil war in Hela and Southern Highland provinces, which ironically are the provinces where the current and previous Prime Minister hail from. For UNITECH where over 50% of students are from the highlands this created a difficult operating environment. Many parents and sponsors were unable to pay the "skul fee" on time.

The Student Movement. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (3)

“Our lives are a battlefield on which is fought a continuous war between the forces that are pledged to confirm our humanity and those determined to dismantle it; those who strive to build a protective wall around it, and those who wish to pull it down; those who seek to mould it and those committed to breaking it up; those who aim to open our eyes, to make us see the light and look to tomorrow [...] and those who wish to lull us into closing our eyes”

Facebook Post by Ngũgĩ  wa Thiong'o (arguably one of Africa's greatest living writers)

(An extract of this article was published by Keith Jackson on PNG Attitude blog)

In Memoriam Mairen Manub

This words and this blog is dedicated to Mairen Manub who passed away on 8 August 2019, after  a short battle with cancer in Port Moresby General hospital, which did not carry the principal medicines he needed.

Mairen Manub - UNITECH student 2012-2015
From 2012, he was one of the legendary 'little helpers', fighting tirelessly from for access to better education, and accountable and transparent university governance.

10/08/2019

Employable Graduates. Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea (2)

(This is the August episode of a series of blog posts. Here is the first, published in July)



"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls ..."  (Robert F. Kennedy)

Background

It is important to reflect on what a viable, sustainable and financially strong higher education system entails. Fundamentally, universities must show they continue to be relevant for society, or in other words are part of a societies solutions, not of its problems.

In this perspective, Universities must at least assure their graduates are 'work ready', in order to stay relevant for the societies they serve, and be worthy of the large grants of tax payers' money they often receive from government.  The private sector is supposed to train them further to make them suitable for specific jobs, or 'job ready'. Work ready graduates are expected to be sustainably employed during their life time.

In addition, universities should assure students have an adequate understanding of their society, and can play a role as active citizens or leaders. Students should not keep quiet in face of injustice or when state institutions are dismantled or corrupted. In this sense, student activism and liberal democracy are a natural best match. Universities are the breeding ground of the next generation of leaders, and therefore being able to lead and strenghten state institutions are fundamental for a country's development. Sometimes this involves cleaning up the mess that one's predecessors left.

Relevant and true universities normally adhere to a set of common principles involving the freedom of inquiry, the inseparable nature of teaching and research, and the involvement of students in university governance, such as outlined in, for example, the Magna Charta Universitatum.

UNITECH first PNG university signing Magna Charta Universitatum in 2015