The Curriculum Development Processes of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration

Abstract

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration (PNGIPA) has been involved in offering training to the bulk of the workforce, in particular the public sector for over thirty years. In spite of its years of service, the Institute has been the subject of much criticisms asserting that the courses delivered were irrelevant, out-dated and misguided. These criticisms prompted this study to investigate one aspect of the PNGIPA's training cycle, its vocational curriculum development cycle of PNGIPA. The four main objectives of the this study were: 1. To investigate and establish the actual curriculum development model that PNGIPA used in developing its courses; 2. To establish what the intended curriculum development model was for PNGIPA; 3. To identify and consolidate the perceptions of both the academic and the managerial staff with regard to the strengths and weaknesses of the actual curriculum development practices of PNGIPA; and 4. To identify the similarities and the difference: between the actual practice and the intended practice.