Figure 1.--Here we see a missionary schiool in Papua New Guinea during the Pacific War. The press caption read, "Saltwater Society: Here is a scene inside the school conducted by the missionary for the native children. In this class there are 70 children who are educated by native teachers. The pupils sit on the floor on straw mats. The photograph is dated August 1943. By this time the Allies were driving west along the northern coast. We are not sure how schools like this were affected by Japanese occupation.
We do not know much about schools in Papua New Guinea. During colonial times, New Guinea was divided. The Dutch coontrolled the west. European planters (mostly British and Germans) began moving into the east (Papua) (late-19th century). The the German New Guinea Company began administering the northeastern quadrant (1884) and became a German colony (1899). The British deckared a protectorate over the southeastern quadrant north of Australia. Australia began administering the southeast as a colony which they called Papua (1906). The Germans gave more attention to developing the economy than the British and Australians, but used forced labor. During World War I, Australian forces seized the German northeast (1914). Ausrralian jurisdiction was formalized (1921). The League of Nations created a mandate system. The League mandate covered only the formerly German sector. The Japanese seized western New Guinea and northern New Guinea (1942). The result was the longest campaign of the Pacific War (1942-45). Through all of these changes as far as we know, no governmental authority established schools. Missionary societies did establish schools. Catholic and Lutheran missionaries were active, especially in the former German northeast sector. The Pacific War brought a much greater outside presence tham ever before, but as far as we know, the missions sponsored the only schools in Papua until after the War and Papua began moving toward indeoendence which was achieved (1975). Papua now has a well-established public school system. The western portion of the island contiunes under Indonesian rule and is thus included within the Indonesian schools section. .
