Papua New Guinea, a society with diverse natural environments
(muddy swamps to soaring mountains, snake-shaped winding
rivers, open seas) and cultural environments (different languages,
customs, traditions) is undergoing massive and rapid social changes.
The occurrence of these social changes and social problems are due
to a combination of diverse exogenous and endogenous changes in
different areas such as politics, economic, cultural, bureaucratic
structure, technology and changes in other societies. These changes
are explicitly stipulated and reflected during the process of the
discussion and analysis.
The purpose of this paper is an attempt to analyze social change and
the emerging social problems in light of the colonisation process
right up to the post independence era. The social functions and
dysfunctions of the innovated Western type education system
during the contemporary modernisation and development process
are also examined. The theoretical frameworks used to analyze
social change are (1) the structural functionalism theory, (2)
modernisation theory, and (3) the theories of change and
development.
The rapid social changes, modernisation and other developments
occurring in Papua New Guinea are a new experience. Prior to this,
people have lived in Papua New Guinea for 50,000 years,
developing material and nonmaterial cultures such as the use of
simple technology including stone axes, digging sticks, dug out
canoes etc., houses made of sago or kunai grass, reciprocity or
gift-exchanges, interdependence, sharing, consensus, behaviour
controlled by established social norms, and the overall social,
political, economic and cultural structures and functions fused into a
single dynamic institution, predominantly through the family units
and kinship relationships. The destabilisation of this traditional
social structural system occurred as a consequence of the
introduction of profound changes and transformations when Great
Britain annexed Papua and Germany proclaimed New Guinea in
1884. Further developments that occurred during the colonisation
process are discussed in the paper.
Education, a powerful agent of social change, has and is playing a
crucial role during the modernisation and development process in
meeting such requirements as manpower needs of the country or
enabling political and economic development. Not only that but it is
maintaining the new social strata that are emerging in the society.
The top cream of the new social strata, called here the social,
political, and economic elite are enjoying the perks and privileges
associated with the positions they hold. They have been
emancipated from the hard rural life as far as Western schooling is
concerned.
Simultaneously, being a heterogeneous society, the dysfunctions of
education are also playing a role in which students are screened
using examinations as the criteria and a majority of them are
leaving school annually along the different levels of the education
system. This is contributing to the over-production of educated
people for the limited supply of jobs in both the government and
private sectors,'consequently leading to unemployment and an
upsurge in social problems. It is argued here that it would be
completely a false assumption if people believe that education is
wholly responsible for the social stratification, social inequality,
instability and unemployment related problems such as the break
down of law and order, disrespect for authority and established
social norms, or rascalism.
According to Etzioni and Etzioni, all efforts to explain societal
change, whether positive or negative, as originating in one single
factor have so utterly failed, thus, contemporary sociologists have
almost unanimously have adopted a multifactor approach (1964:7).
Etzioni and Etzioni also claim that social change may originate in any
institutional area, bringing about changes in other areas, which in
turn make for further adaptations in the initial sphere of change.
Technological, economic, political, religious, ideological, invention,
demographic and stratificational factors are all viewed as
potentially independent variables which influence each other, as
well as the course of society.
The current social situation in Papua New Guinea appears daunting
and pessimistic and for the masses of the people, the prospect is one
of rising inequalities, more intensive exploitation, chronic
unemployment and insecurity, misgovernment, social disruptions
and blighted opportunity during the modernisation and
development process. The paper suggests some ways in which the
national education system and the national government could
address some of these socio-economic problems to bring about
positive social changes in society. There is a need for strong genuine
political will, firm policy direction, diversification and
industrialisation of the economy, prudent planning, educational
reforms, constitutional reforms, increased training of skilled
manpower, coordinated integration, wise spending of available
resources and critical examination and analysis of wider social,
political, economic, and cultural issues and implications by those in
power. Perhaps these actions may help in some ways to bring about
equilibrium in the different components that make up the whole
social system, consequently creating a more just and stable society.
Social, political, and economic stability is vitally essential for
economic investment, modernisation and industrial growth.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219489 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Yoko, James, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright James Yoko |
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