Category: UPNG School of Business and Public Policy

Scholarship applications for the Graduate Diploma of Economic and Public Policy are now closed.

For more information about programs at the University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Business & Public Policy, please contact Lisa Marie Kila – Ph: 3267 299 / 3267 305 | E: sbpp@upng.ac.pg

‘Your future is in your hands – you are what you are and where you are because of your decisions; be disciplined and always be optimistic.’

An important reminder and encouragement from Jollanda Matthew – a young tutor at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) who graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in April this year and who has been awarded the Australian National University (ANU) scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in International and Development Economics in 2019.

Jollanda enjoys reading novels, she is a keen learner and enjoys long conversations with her friends apart from playing netball, however there is a big contrast between her hobbies and her ambitions.

Some people end up in fields very different from their interest – but they stay in a particular field for various reasons whilst some end up doing exactly what they enjoy – they turn their hobby into their career. For Jollanda, as a child her interests were to work in a field that was noble – that involved caring, nurturing, educating and serving.

“I had thoughts of either becoming a nurse, or a teacher or even a flight attendant,” she reveals.

But she was also a practical person – observing and helping her mum and grandma with selling goods at the market ignited an interest in understanding labour and production, the distribution and consumption of goods and services.

Jollanda’s grandfather had a great influence in her career choice – he had a big interest in the economic field and had wanted to become an economist but was not fortunate to make it to tertiary level to study this course, yet he understood how the economy worked and he passed on what he know about this area to Jollanda.

At a young age, Jollanda’s granddad helped her see how living, whether it is subsistence or commercial living – were all intertwined and that economics is a major factor in people’s decision making.

The knowledge passed onto her, coupled with her efforts in helping her mum and grandma sell their goods opened the pathway to studying economy.

“I often helped my mother and grandmother sell food at the markets when I was little and I always wondered why the price of goods kept increasing, and why K10, although may seem a reasonable amount, could only cater for certain things and not others,” she said.

“As I progressed to high school and national high school and took up economics, I started to gain a bit more understanding of why goods were produced, why there is a cost for labour, for distribution and for production and the practise of barter – exchange of goods and services and purchasing power- how much goods and services can be bought by one unit of money,” she adds.

Studying in Wawin National High School in Lae, Morobe Province was her first move away from her closely-knitted family and her first step towards learning to be independent and the opportunity to understanding more the economics of living.

“At Wawin, I had to learn to manage well my allowances that my parents sent, manage my time and priorities that was the beginning of a clearer illustration of living economically. My father is formally employed with the Works Department in Manus, but he helps my mum to toil the land because he wanted to ensure if my family is well catered for, my siblings and I can continue to attend school and progress onto attaining qualifications that will lend us a job and the cycle goes – the subsistence way of life is still a great supplement to Papua New Guinean families.”

“In my first month at Wawin, my mum would call me each morning to ensure I was up and ready for classes and had not missed breakfast. I was indirectly constantly reminded of the importance of having breakfast, being well to attend classes and to make sure to attend all classes. Being disciplined will get your somewhere in life – idleness will take you nowhere. These thoughts guided me to be grounded in order for me to continue to progress further in my education.”

“At university, I learnt how to interpret some of the issues affecting PNG’s economy, such as the foreign exchange shortage and the unemployment rate and I began to see how economics influenced people’s decision making. Economics is everywhere; the decision whether to study or go out with friends is economics.”

The privilege to pursue further studies brings her closer to fulfilling her dream of becoming an economist and contributing to nation building – a dream her grandfather shares.

“His support and encouragement has pushed me to strive to achieve exceptional results from day one of my studies and I am thankful to him and to my dad for encouraging me to pursue this area of interest.”

Jollanda was among more than 400 students from the School of Business and Public Policy who graduated in April this year.

She and her fellow economics graduates have benefitted throughout their degree from the School’s strong partnership with the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, which is supported by the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct.

The partnership between ANU and the UPNG is supporting the School of Business and Public Policy to become a research hub, enabling academics and students to contribute to the nation’s understanding of the challenges and opportunities it faces.

The ANU lecturers work alongside UPNG staff and contribute to the academic and personnel development of students, encouraging them to be leaders and role-models to their peers.

Jollanda presently tutors nearly 200 first and third year students at the School of Business and Public Policy, a pre-requisite of the ANU Economics Scholarship.

ANU Lecturer Dek Joe Sum was full of praise for Jollanda and her peers at UPNG.

“The Precinct partnership has greatly benefited students, staff and future leaders. Jollanda is working as a tutor right now, accumulating her teaching experience,” he said.

“People like us are expatriates, we do not know the culture as well as the locals. Jollanda and other ANU Scholarship recipients are the best students, who have first class knowledge and are able to combine it with the local understanding.

“With them coming back there will be a big impact and a sustainable plan for UPNG. Our role as lecturers may not be as significant anymore – they will be the champions.”

Jollanda will depart Papua New Guinea next year with 10 third year students to attend an ANU-UPNG Summer School program as part of the partnership between the two institutions.

She will then remain in Australia to take up her master’s studies in 2019, where she will follow in the footsteps of Ani Rova, Maho Laveil and Kelly Samof – the ANU Scholarship awardees currently studying in Canberra.

“The partnership between UPNG and ANU, and my experience with the visiting lecturers, changed the way I think about economics.”

Jollanda aims to return to the School of Business and Public Policy as a lecturer, once she has completed her post-graduate studies.

Staff and students from the University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Business and Public Policy will now have access to more information from new teaching and learning materials.

More than 2,400 new books and journals were presented to the University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Business and Public Policy through the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct last week.

The books were handed over by Australian High Commission Minister Counsellor Benedict David, to the Executive Dean at the School of Business and Public Policy, Professor Lekshmi N. Pillai.

Emerging leaders at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) exchanged perspectives on some of the key issues facing the nation at the 2017 School of Business and Public Policy Debate Competition.

The competition was held form 21-22 September and included teams which represented the divisions of economics, public policy management, strategic management and business management.

The Economics Students Society were crowned champions after they defeated the Public Policy Management Students Society in the closely contested final.

Bobby Kunda, President of the UPNG Economics Students Society, said the Debate Competition encouraged students to consider different perspectives on important topics for Papua New Guinea.

“The competition is a forum for intellectual discussion about ongoing issues in the nation,” Mr Kunda said.

“It promoted networking and teamwork, and next year we want to increase the number of participants.”

“The teams brought different perspectives from their fields of study,” he said, “we all have different views and this provides an avenue to understand the other side,”

“Economics students brought different ideas to the public policy management students, and the same was the case with those from strategic management and business management.”

Topics included the development of small-medium enterprises, the privatisation of state-owned enterprises, the attainability of Papua New Guinea’s Vision 2050 and reserved seats for women in parliament.

The 2017 School of Business and Public Policy Debate Competition was organised by the Economics Students Society and supported by the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct partnership between UPNG and the Australian National University.

The Precinct supports dialogue and discussion on Papua New Guinea’s development challenges and how capable, ethical leaders can support positive change.

A young graduate begins a new chapter in her life after university on the path to achieving her dream of being a policy analyst.   

Growing up in a remote area and experiencing firsthand the difficulties in accessing basic services is what pushed Martha Waim to excel in her studies right through to university.

Martha became the first of her 11 siblings to graduate with a university degree – a coveted Bachelor of Economics from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) at the 62^nd Graduation Ceremony on 28 July 2017.

It was the proudest moment for this young woman from a mixed parentage of Simbu and Eastern Highlands Provinces which she shared with her extended families from both sides.

University graduation ceremonies are perhaps as exciting an event for the families of graduates as they are for students themselves. 

Twenty members of Martha Waim’s family from Simbu and Eastern Highlands certainly weren’t going to miss the occasion.

With the airport closed at Mount Hagen, most of her family made their way to Goroka where they were able to secure tickets to Port Moresby.

A few missed out though and rushed down the Highlands Highway by four-wheel drive to Lae, where they arrived just in time for the last flight of the day to the nation’s capital.

“I’m very excited, my family are happy too – a whole bunch came down for the graduation,” she said

At UPNG, Martha came under the tutelage of Australian National University (ANU) academics who work at the School of Business and Public Policy through the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct.

The Precinct is a partnership between the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia that is supporting the development of future leaders, including those who can shape the nation’s public policy.

She said the ANU academics’ passion and commitment had a great influence on the students.

“The lecturers put a lot of time and effort in to the program,” Martha said.

“They took a personal interest in us, in what our dreams were and what we wanted to do.

This included writing reference letters to help with internships and scholarships – simple things that went a long way.”

Martha was one of 57 students who benefited from the UPNG-ANU Partnership throughout their degree program.

ANU academics teach hundreds of School of Business and Public Policy students each year and assist with curricula design, capacity development and research agendas.

Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis, in his address at the Graduation Ceremony, said the students could achieve great things by applying their education in a way that benefits Papua New Guinea.

“Congratulations to all those graduating today and all those who have supported you on your journeys – your family, friends, lecturers and tutors,” Mr Davis said.

“You are now the future leaders of Papua New Guinea.

Each and every one of you has an obligation to help shape the country that Papua New Guinea will become during the course of your life.”

Martha is up for the challenge and her path has led her to a graduate position at the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (PNG NRI), where she is contributing to the evidence base for the nation’s public policy makers.

“PNG NRI has taken me on as a cadet. I’m currently attached to the education program – Universal Basic Education – doing surveys and research. 

I’ve increased my knowledge base a lot and I also hope to further my studies.”

David Ayres, PNG NRI Senior Deputy Director, said the cadetship brought outstanding recent graduates to the Institute and provides them a year of training and experience.

“PNG NRI has for a number of years had in place a cadetship program. In the past couple of years we have given that program a much sharper focus and professional edge,” he said.

“Those that excel are then provided with the opportunity to join PNG NRI for a further two years as Research Project Officers.  At present, we have 6 cadets, and 6 Project Officers working at the Institute.

The cadetship is an important contribution by PNG NRI to building the country’s capacity to recognise and deal with its challenging development issues and problems.”

Martha said the undergraduate degree and her cadetship were important steps towards her aim of contributing to Papua New Guinea’s future.

“I’m passionate about seeing development in my country – it’s the reason I took up economics,” she said.

“I come from a remote area in the Highlands where it is very difficult to access services; I lived there and know firsthand how things are.

My dream job is to be a policy analyst, perhaps with Treasury or the Asian Development Bank. I want to see policies that can be implemented effectively for the people.”

Kelly Samof is quick to admit that when he started university he was thinking only of getting a degree and finding a job to secure his own future.

Now Kelly’s face lights up when given the opportunity to speak about his studies in economics and his hopes for the future of Papua New Guinea. His tall frame moves excitedly to make each point.

“Once I finish studying I want to work at the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea or the Department of Treasury,” Kelly said.

“I want to find an area of economics that I enjoy and can excel in.”

Soon after starting his Bachelor of Economics at UPNG SBPP in 2013, Kelly found himself under the guidance of academics from the ANU through the Precinct.

“The partnership between the two universities has had a big impact on both my education and my personal growth,” he said.

“The academics from Australia showed us that we can use our education to make a difference in Papua New Guinea. They believe in us and this belief has given us confidence in our abilities.”

Through the Precinct, the Australian academics teach a number of economics and public policy subjects including Applied Economics and Business Statistics, Economic Policy, Quantitative Economics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Decentralisation Policy, and Policy Monitoring and Evaluation.

“The lecturers tell us that what we learn is on par with students in Australia and Europe, and they talk about the huge potential of our country,” he said.

“This has been inspirational to me. As a Papua New Guinean you don’t grow up thinking that way.”

Kelly they were encouraged to see themselves as global citizens and not just as undergraduates.

His credentials as a global citizen and an emerging leader were boosted when he travelled to Sydney in 2016 after being awarded a Kokoda Track Foundation Archer Leaders Scholarship, which aims to develop tertiary students who have demonstrated an unquestionable commitment to their studies, communities and country.

Kelly once again reaped the benefits of his hard work when he was awarded the ANU-UPNG Scholarship in Economics in April 2017, which is supported through the Precinct partnership.

The scholarship will see Kelly return to Australia in 2018. This time to Canberra where he will live for two years while he undertakes a Master of International and Development Economics at ANU.

In Alotau and Port Moresby, Kelly’s family and friends continue to encourage him on his journey.

“They’re supportive of the fact that I’m growing as a person and learning to interact with people from outside Papua New Guinea,” Kelly said.

“It was a barrier that I had to break through, learning to communicate with people from a different culture.

“All their hopes are with us to bring something better when we go out in to the world.”

He is not the first in his family to excel academically with his father, Dr Lucas Samof, also graduating from UPNG. Dr Samof studied medicine, specialised as an anaesthetist and is presently Director of Critical Care and Medical Services of the Milne Bay Provincial Health Authority.

Kelly’s younger sister may also look to follow in those footsteps when she joins him in Port Moresby to study science at UPNG, with a view to moving into medicine.

Kelly is excited by the prospects of furthering his education and believes the education and experience he gains at the ANU can equip him with the tools to make a difference in Papua New Guinea.

“I don’t expect to change the whole world, but I know I can play a part in shaping the future of Papua New Guinea by helping to create good policy and contributing to sensible economic decisions,” Kelly said.