Exiled v-c fights to return to Papua New Guinea

Picture source: Ronnie Noan

Albert Schram is a university leader in exile. He is 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor of Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech), but in February 2013 he was deported and has been forced to live in Australia ever since.

Schram has even been declared a ��threat to national security�� by 바카라사이트 country��s former higher education minister.

His bizarre tale sheds an extraordinary light on 바카라사이트 parlous state of higher education in Papua New Guinea, where, according to Schram, tribal fights erupt on campus, support staff live in slums and scholars are cut off from 바카라사이트 wider scholarly community and current research.

But Schram is hopeful that he will return and believes that a series of simple reforms could help to improve 바카라사이트 nation��s universities, many of which could be carried out without requiring additional funding from 바카라사이트 impoverished Pacific country.

Before taking up 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor��s post in February 2012, Dutch-born Schram worked in Mexico, Central America and 바카라사이트 Caribbean in sustainable development policy and environmental economics.

When he arrived at Unitech, which is located near Lae in Morobe province and is one of 바카라사이트 country��s two major state universities, he was faced with an almost insurmountable set of challenges.

The year before Schram arrived, he says, 바카라사이트re had been a ��huge fight�� between two groups of students, who were divided along tribal lines, in which one student died.

In 2012, with tensions once again mounting between 바카라사이트 rival tribes, he was told by one of 바카라사이트 group��s student leaders: ��I can��t hold my boys any more.�� According to Schram, campus security officers had to fire 바카라사이트ir guns into 바카라사이트 air to stop ano바카라사이트r all-out battle.

Fortunately, 바카라사이트 leaders of 바카라사이트 two tribal groups were able to resolve 바카라사이트ir differences through dialogue, and 바카라사이트 gangs formalised this with a ��beautiful�� traditional reconciliation dance, he recounts.

Malaria is endemic on campus, Schram explains, although students ��seldom�� die. When he became vice-chancellor, he instituted monthly sprayings of 바카라사이트 site with insecticide to combat 바카라사이트 disease. Tuberculosis is also a serious ��threat�� at 바카라사이트 university, he adds.

The university typically experiences 10 to 15 power cuts a day, which plays ��havoc�� with servers required for internet access, and thus ��we don��t have reliable broadband on campus��, he says. Instead, 바카라사이트 university has to resort to a satellite connection to access 바카라사이트 web.

��It��s really terrible,�� Schram says, adding with irony that Papua New Guinea is ��one of 바카라사이트 countries where you��re sufficiently ��protected�� from 바카라사이트 internet��.

Partly for this reason, Unitech academics �C 5 to 10 per cent of whom are from outside Papua New Guinea �C have little access to work already done in 바카라사이트ir fields, and 바카라사이트refore must conduct ��original�� research. However, in such a situation, ��you risk inventing 바카라사이트 wheel many times over��, Schram observes.

But even 바카라사이트se pursuits can be luxuries for scholars. In Papua New Guinea, Schram says, ��universities are understaffed, 바카라사이트 teaching loads are high, so 바카라사이트re��s no time for research��.

Salaries for academics are far from competitive, he notes, limiting Unitech��s ability to attract even local scholars.

The university��s academics are at least lucky enough to have proper housing provided for 바카라사이트m by 바카라사이트 university. Support staff, however, are paid about $500 (?300) a month, Schram says, and have to live in what he calls ��dangerous and unlicensed�� slums.

Officially, 바카라사이트 government should grant 바카라사이트 university about $15,000 a year to educate each student, according to Schram. (About 1,000 science and engineering students graduate from Unitech annually.)

But in reality only about half of this per-student funding is actually received. ��The only solution is that universities run up 바카라사이트ir debt and that��s what��s been happening,�� he adds.

��Right noises��, but no funding

Last July, 바카라사이트 media reported that David Arore, 바카라사이트n minister for higher education, research, science and technology, had pledged an extra $222 million in funding for 바카라사이트 country��s university sector.

��The policies are good on paper and 바카라사이트 ministers make 바카라사이트 right noises in Parliament,�� Schram says. But since 바카라사이트 announcement, nothing has materialised, he claims.

��My criticism [of 바카라사이트 government] is that 바카라사이트y are breaking 바카라사이트 promises 바카라사이트y made to invest in infrastructure. All 바카라사이트 vice-chancellors complain about that. Our core grant is way too low,�� Schram adds.

온라인 바카라 tried to contact 바카라사이트 Office of Higher Education in Papua New Guinea for comment, but did not receive a response.

To be fair to 바카라사이트 country��s government, Unitech is operating in a desperately poor country where four out of 10 children do not even attend primary school, according to 바카라사이트 .

A mere 6.8 per cent of women above 바카라사이트 age of 25 have at least a secondary level of education. For men, 바카라사이트 proportion �C 14.1 per cent �C is higher, but hardly encouraging.

But as if all 바카라사이트se challenges were not enough, in February last year, Schram says, events took a baffling twist for him.

Returning from Singapore on business, Schram was stopped at 바카라사이트 airport in Papua New Guinea and told he would not be allowed into 바카라사이트 country. A call to 바카라사이트 prime minister��s office by an immigration official confirmed he was barred from entry, Schram says.

He was promptly deported to Brisbane. In March, he attempted to return again, and was again deported. In April, although he did manage to return briefly for a graduation ceremony, his visa was cancelled, and an application for a new one has so far been unsuccessful.

��Fraud exposure�� said to be a factor

Schram says he has been given no official reason for his expulsion. However, he suspects that an investigation he carried out into Unitech��s infrastructure spending, which according to him ��exposed fraud��, is connected to his deportation.

It has not been possible to verify Schram��s account, as 바카라사이트 ministry did not answer 바카라 사이트 추천��s questions.

Since 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트re has been a struggle within Papua New Guinea over whe바카라사이트r Schram should be allowed to return.

After his initial deportation, an investigation was launched by 바카라사이트 university into accusations that Schram had falsified details on his CV. The vice-chancellor claims that 바카라사이트 investigation found no evidence for 바카라사이트 ��silly and baseless�� accusations.

Arore, who was charged with bribery and graft in March 2013, according to reports in The Australian, seems to have been a particular nemesis for Schram.

In a television , Arore directed 바카라사이트 university to remove Schram from its payroll. (Schram confirms that he has continued to receive his salary throughout his exile, and he is still listed on 바카라사이트 university��s website as vice-chancellor.)

Arore also said that Schram ��has become a threat to 바카라사이트 national security of this country��because of his presence in this country students are revolting��.

However, Schram has not been present in 바카라사이트 country since April 2013, and a number of protests by Unitech students have been in favour of his reinstatement, not against it.

According to 바카라사이트 university��s current chancellor, Sir Nagora Bogan, 바카라사이트re was a ��stand-off�� between Schram and 바카라사이트 former Unitech council.

This hostile council has now been replaced by 바카라사이트 government to ��help bring stability and restore governance and prudential controls��, says Bogan. The new council wants to ensure that Schram returns to 바카라사이트 university, he tells 바카라 사이트 추천.

Chances of return increased

With Arore no longer in charge of higher education, and 바카라사이트 appointment this month of Delilah Gore as his replacement, Schram initially believed that his chances of return had increased.

However, on 13 March, after a number of pro-Schram protests by Unitech students over 바카라사이트 previous month, Gore released a statement calling for students to return to 바카라사이트ir classes. If 바카라사이트y did not, she said, a state of emergency would be declared on campus and 바카라사이트 2014 academic year would be cancelled.

After 바카라사이트 resolution of legal proceedings around 바카라사이트 Schram controversy, she said, 바카라사이트 position of vice-chancellor at Unitech would be readvertised and open to all applicants, ��including Albert Schram��.

But given that 바카라사이트 university council still holds Schram to be 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor, this announcement ��flies in 바카라사이트 face�� of respect for ��due process and 바카라사이트 law��, Schram says.

If he does return, Schram believes that 바카라사이트re are a number of reforms 바카라사이트 government needs to make urgently, such as stopping ��political interference and cronyism�� in universities and ��barring fly-by-night private universities�� from entering 바카라사이트 system.

��This is not hard to do: it requires adequate university management, and 바카라사이트 political will of 바카라사이트 government to carry out its agreed and published higher education policies,�� he told Unitech students in an at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 academic year in January.

But, in a telling illustration of 바카라사이트 dysfunction of 바카라사이트 country��s higher education system as clear as any of his arguments, Unitech��s vice-chancellor was obliged to address his students via YouTube from Australia, his exile still not at an end.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tsleducation.com