Port Moresby - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability of international schools? What has been your general experience with them, if any?
Our children were in upper elementary grades at the main international school, TEMIS (Ela Murray). Socially and cuturally, they had a fantastic time. Academically, it was a disaster. The school has a very loose curriculum and NO textbooks! Teachers seem to have to plan their classes from scratch. Some teachers are very good, but some are truly incompetent. My kids fell quite behind academically. We are now back home trying to catch up. - May 2019
There is one approved international grade school - The Ela Murray International School - kindergarten (called "prep" here) through 8th grade. It is based on Australian curriculum, but it is not accredited by any non-PNG institution - standards are set by private PNG consortium. We have found the curriculum to be about a year behind our public school back home. Since the school year starts in January, our older son started late in the fourth grade in September (when he would have begun fourth grade in the States) and then started fifth grade in December. He loves his current teacher, who is from Canada. He had difficulty understanding his local 4th grade teacher. Class size seems to be about 25 per class. Two classes per grade. Pretty good after-school programs, including music lessons. I will need to do a better job augmenting math, or else he will be behind at the next post. Facilities are just okay. There is a large pool, tennis courts and a soccer pitch. The bathrooms are kind of gross, and sometimes they run out of water. But that happens throughout the city and is probably not the school's fault. I think the first grade may be full, so check with the school before you bid in order to see if there are a waiting list for your child's grade if you come in mid-year. High School: POMIS, the high school, is not approved by the American education team. Some people at the EU do send their children and like it. - Jun 2016
The expat community is served by Port Moresby International High School (few expats); St. Joseph's (mainly PNG and Asian students); and Ela Murray International School (more expats than not). Ela Murray has 2 sites: Ela Beach site in Town for the preschool, and the Murray site in Boroko for other grades. - Jun 2008
