My field work was conducted at the Porgera Mine site in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The mine site is located in what was once one of the most remote parts of Enga Province in the highlands region of PNG, the Porgera Valley. It lies 130km West-Northwest of Mt Hagen and 600km northwest of the nation‘s capital, Port Moresby (Barrick, n.d, p.4). The Porgera Gold Mine began operations in 1990 and became a ―world class mine‖ in 1992, (third largest gold mine in the world) and one of the most ―spectacular successes‖ of the mining industry from a technical and financial perspective (Banks, 1996, p.260, Finlayson, 2002, p.32). This ranking effectively describes the magnitude of the Porgera mine and its impact. Porgera is home to the Ipili people who have strong cultural traditions and characteristics, and the Porgera district has two Local Level Government councils (Hewa and Porgera). In order to reach the research site, I travelled from Port Moresby to Mt Hagen by air and then boarded a PJV chartered plane and arrived at Porgera after about forty minutes of flight. Accommodation, transport and office space were provided by the Community Planning and Development Unit of PJVs Community Affairs Department.
Figure 4-1Map showing the location of the Porgera Gold Mine on the PNG map
(Refer to the appendix D for a detailed map of the Porgera mine) (Source)
4.4.1. Selection and Composition of Research Participants
Participants from schools and key public and private institutions who have a direct impact on the area of study were pre-selected. However, research participants from the local mine communities were selected randomly and on an ad hoc basis. A total of 38 participants took part in the study. Out of the 38 participants, 12 were females and 26 were males. Primary focus was placed on schools and landowner parents in order to explore and gain their insights into the progress of educational developments within Porgera mines vicinity. As such, a representative selection from a cross-section of the community involved in implementing education was selected. The table below shows research participant‘s composition.
Table 4.1 the Demographic Coding of the Research Participants
Institutions Codes Gender Number of
Participan ts
Role/Position
All schools including CODE, Vocational and DODL, Primary and community schools, High School
EIA All Males 12 Includes Headmasters,
Principals, Managers and Coordinators
Local People LOY
LOP LOE 3 F/3M 3F/3M 3F/2M 6 6 5 Local Landowner youths, Landowner parents Local Landowner Elites
Churches CL 2 M 2 Church Leaders
Public and Private Institutions MKS 2 F/5M 7 Leaders from
PDA,PJV, District education, Rotary Australia, PDWA, PLA Total participants 12 Females/ 26 Males 38
The composition of research participants included leaders from the main public (government) and private (PDA, PJV) institutions, the churches, local communities (youths, parents, and local working elites), Rotary Australia, and the Porgera District Women‘s Association (PDWA). The original intention was to engage views of landowner leaders, which include LLG president, councilors, PDA and PLA Chairmen but all attempts made to meet with these individuals failed (refer to chapter one limitations). This is a shortfall for this research, as their perspectives would have contributed significantly toward strengthening the findings. However, a good number of responses came from school headmasters34 (EIAs). Most of the school administrators interviewed had spent more than five years at their respective institutions, apart from a few who had just come into running their schools recently. Additionally, local participants were randomly selected purposely to collect a holistic sample of their perceptions. As such, an equal number from different age groups were involved (youths, adults, and local elites working in the mine). Other key stakeholders directly influential in the delivery of education are the churches (predominantly Seventh - Day Adventist and Catholic) and their leaders were involved. It is important to note that positions are used interchangeably used hereafter to refer to certain groups
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of people. For instance, the terms ‗EIAs‘ refers to ‗Headmasters‘ and ‗Principals‘ who are people in charge of running the schools. In addition various codes are allotted for each research participants, for instance, all headmasters and Principals were included under the ‗Educational Institutional Administrators‘ (EIA) category and all organizational leaders from the private sector institutions and the public sector institutions are categorized under the Mine Key Stakeholders (MKS) category. The term ‗local people‘ refers to the local Porgeran citizens and ‗church leaders‘ refers to the church leaders within Porgera that are named as taking part in the study.
4.4.2. Justification for Choosing Research Participants
Research, regardless of the form it takes and whichever way it is directed, must be valid (Wiersma, 2000). For research to be valid it must be based on evidence or facts that are ―capable of being justified‖. As such, a cross section of participants from both genders wasselected in order to achieve a representative view of the key stakeholders. Participants were intentionally selected to suit the SLA approach of research, which also blends in with the Whole Institutional Approach (WIA) where I tried to include a representation of key stakeholders as a whole in this research. This latter entails focusing on educational processes and demands participation and collaboration that offer attractive ways of obtaining knowledge, attitudes and actions for sustainable educational developments (Robinson & Shallcross, 2006, p.241). WIA also integrates all aspects of a school, such as teaching and learning, participation and active citizenship in line with SLA (Robinson & Shallcross, 2006, p. 41). In addition, WIA provides integration between the state, businesses, individuals and communities; such that it was appropriate to seek the views of a wider cross-section of the community.
4.4.3. Conducting the Field Work
Upon arrival at the research site, a research plan was developed in consultation with the Porgera Mine Environment and Community Planning (CPD) Senior Project Officer, and was approved by the CPD manager who both signed and consented. A maximum of three interviews were conducted each day at the most. Formal appointments were made prior to visiting schools and organizations, whilst meetings
with local people were held as and when one became available. Local individual participants were selected randomly from the villages in and around Porgera and Paiam station. Although the mine operations affect two LLGs (Hewa and Porgera LLG), the study concentrated only on the Porgera urban area (see context section in chapter one). The field work took six weeks and most of this time was spent in Porgera Valley visiting schools and meeting with the school boards, principals, parents, churches leaders, landowners, district education officers, PJV officers, and management and PDA staff.