The Student Movement: Experiences of a Vice Chancellor in Papua New Guinea

(A longer version of this blogpost was published in 2019)

Introduction

As the Vice Chancellor of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (UNITECH) from 2012 to 2018, I experienced firsthand the challenges of leading a university in a country plagued by systemic corruption. This post is dedicated to Mairen Manub, a legendary student leader who passed away in 2019.

Marien Manub, student leader

PNG universities struggle to produce employable graduates due to corruption and lack of inclusive institutions. Acemoglu and Robinson's book "Why Nations Fail" provides a framework for understanding the importance of civil society movements in developing countries. Here is what happened.

UNITECH's Un-Holy Old Regime

While Misty Baloiloi was Vice-Chancellor for 19 years, UNITECH had become a joint criminal enterprise, with millions stolen from university coffers. Attempts to expose and address this corruption were met with resistance and persecution of myself, and student leaders.

When I took over on 7th of February 2012, the University had become a powder keg, ready to explode. In fact, from January 2013 until April 2014, I was kept out of the country while the government tried, very slowly, to deal with the situation. 

Of course, as an educator, I never instructed students to boycott classes. Moreover, in my interactions by email on social media, I never knew whether I was talking with a genuine student, or an agent provocateur working for the government. My background in intelligence as an air force officer came in really handy in this sense.

In fact, four student protests occurred starting within a month after my arrival:

1- UNITECH's First Boycott of Classes & Revolution, 2012

Students, led by SRC President Joe Kaowai, revolted against the corrupt old regime, burning Chancellor Phillip Stagg's vehicle and demanding change.

2- UNITECH's Second Boycott of Classes, 2013

While I was in exile, students demanded my return as Vice Chancellor. SRC President Livingstone Hosea later betrayed the movement for personal gain.

3- UNITECH's Third Class Boycott of Classes and Revolution, 2014

Students successfully fought for my return and the appointment of a new University Council. Eddy Nagual played key leadership role. Finally, in April 2014, I was able to return.

4- UNITECH's Fourth Boycott of Classes, 2016

These protests were not about university governance, but rather regarded a national issue. Students protested against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's corruption, but the movement was derailed by political interference and violence, resulting in the tragic death of a student and the destruction of university property, and the severe injuries for another student. 

Several politicians gave beer, pizza and money to the students to set them up for a tribal proxy fights, ahead of the elections. Sadly, this is common practice in Papua New Guinea, and only the students suffer. In the aftermath, the government tried to blame me, while I had constantly asked the students to return to classes and keep it peaceful and civil.

The Role of Student Leaders

Several student leaders deserve to be mentioned here, and I hope their genuine efforts to build a better society and a more perfect democracy in Papua New Guinea will be recognized. Exemplary student leaders like Joe Kaowai (who passed away in 2022), Eddy Nagual, and Richard Mabiria fought tirelessly for better education and accountable university governance. Female leaders like Grace Winka, Diane Mapiso, and Michelle Banga put the voice of female students on an equal footing with males.

Final Remarks

Despite my efforts to transform UNITECH into a rule-based, mission-focused organization, after my departure in 2018, the current management and Council have failed to deliver on the promise of creating a student-centered university and the systemic corruption has returned. 

Writing now in 2024, a few positives should be listed. 

First, I was able to stop the downright stealing, and the university achieved a clean, unqualified audit for the first time in its history at the end of 2017. Since then the accounts remained accurate. From 2014, massive improvement in academic quality and the learning environment took place, with in 2015 for example the university finally getting broadband internet, and becoming the first university in the world to use the O3B satellite internet system.

Secondly, after long delay, finally the university engineering programs are going to follow international standards, and will be accredited soon. Nevertheless, the fight for inclusive institutions and better education must continue. 

#PNGUniversities #ActiveCitizenship #InclusiveInstitutions #AcademicLeadership #PNGEducation #StudentMovement #Corruption #UniversityGovernance