Partner since:
Total grant support: US$51,854,686
Grant eligibility:
Partnership compact
Priority: Complete the rollout of the 1-6-6 School Restructuring Reform.
Coordinating agency: JICA
GPE Team lead: Florian Rabenstein
In Papua New Guinea, many students drop out of school during primary education and during the transition from primary to secondary. Only, one in five secondary-school age children are enrolled in school.
In line with the National Education Plan 2020-2029, Papua New Guinea’s Partnership Compact identifies completing the rollout of the 1-6-6 school restructuring reform as a priority for improving learning and increasing completion rates.
By changing the current 3-6-4 grade structure, the 1-6-6 restructuring lowers the age of entry into primary education by two years and extends the number of years of secondary education by two years.
In the early grades, the reform will develop a better qualified workforce, with more children completing play-based early childhood education and transitioning to primary school.
The primary education grades will be more age-appropriate. At the secondary level, students in grades 7 and 8 will benefit from better trained, specialized teachers and more appropriate infrastructure. With the removal of the grade 8 examination, students, especially adolescent girls, will have an automatic pathway into secondary education.
The reforms aim to enable more students to complete 13 years of schooling.
out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age
of government expenditure on education
(data as of December 11, 2025)
Type: System transformation
Years: 2025 - 2029
Allocation: US$11,180,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: UNICEF
Type: System capacity
Years: 2022 - 2025
Allocation: US$700,000
Utilization: US$556,707
Grant agent: UNICEF
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting Papua New Guinea Education Advocacy Network (PEAN) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
