National Goals and Directive Principles – The Constitutional Blueprint for a Multilingual Nation

In the politically charged atmosphere of the early 1970s, as Papua New Guinea stood on the cusp of independence, a group of its future leaders faced a monumental task.

The Constitutional Planning Committee (CPC), entrusted with drafting the nation’s foundational document, had to address a fundamental paradox: how to forge a unified national identity from a thousand distinct tribes and over 800 languages.

The colonial legacy provided a simple but divisive model. Successive administrations had treated the archipelago’s rich linguistic diversity as an obstacle to progress.

English was instituted as the language of power, education, and administration, while our many  tok ples, were largely dismissed. This policy created a society with a small, English-speaking elite and a vast majority whose own tongues were excluded from the corridors of opportunity.

In a direct rejection of this colonial inheritance, the CPC developed a radical and deeply philosophical approach to language and literacy.

This vision was not merely about policy but about the very definition of the new nation. The committee operated on the principle that true nation-building could not demand citizens to abandon their core identities.

Development, they argued, must communicate in the languages of the people.

This philosophy was enshrined within the National Goals and Directive Principles (NGDPs) in a clause that amounted to a quiet revolution. It called for the state to pursue “universal literacy in Pisin, Hiri Motu or English, and in ‘tok ples’ or ‘ita eda tano gado’.”

This directive established a sophisticated three-tiered vision for the nation’s linguistic future:

1. Tok Ples (Mother Tongue): At the foundation was a commitment to literacy in the languages of the villages. This was a profound act of cultural affirmation, recognizing that genuine education and self-confidence begin in the language of one’s home and heritage.
2. Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu: The two major lingua francas were elevated as the essential threads for weaving the new national fabric. As the organic languages of trade, friendship, and inter-tribal communication, they were the natural and homegrown tools for fostering unity.
3. English: Pragmatically, the committee recognized the need for a global language. English was designated as the nation’s window to the world for diplomacy, international commerce, and higher education. It was adopted as a tool, but deliberately placed alongside, not above, the nation’s indigenous and national languages.

Looking back from the perspective of half a century, the wisdom of this decision remains a cornerstone of Papua New Guinea’s identity. The CPC chose a more complex path than simply adopting a single colonial language. They encoded a philosophy that celebrated diversity as a strength, not a weakness.