Forum Education Ministers meet in NZ
PRESS STATEMENT (229/07)
22nd November 2007
EDUCATION MINISTERS TO DISCUSS ‘ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR PACIFIC CHILDREN AND YOUTH’
Pacific Forum Education Ministers will discuss the theme of ‘Enhancing educational outcomes for Pacific children and youth’ when they gather in Auckland, New Zealand, 26 – 28 November.
“The Ministers will review the implementation of the Forum Basic Education Action Plan including an overview of the progress of the Pacific Regional Initiative for the Delivery of Basic Education (PRIDE) which is the implementation mechanism for the Plan,” Feleti Teo, Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat said.
Another important initiative is the development of a Pacific Regional Qualifications Register that is being developed by the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment. This will assist with the portability of qualifications within the region and ultimately with labour mobility.
Next year, it will be seven years since the Forum Basic Education Action Plan was conceived. It has been added to at each subsequent Education Ministers Meeting and is now a rather weighty document.
“While I’m sure that the areas in the Plan are still relevant, it is timely to sit back and review its contents and the relevance to the educational priorities expressed by our member countries. We need to look critically at the impact of the Plan and the various aspects of its implementation,” Mr Teo said.
“We would also like Ministers to start considering at this meeting what is the most appropriate form of support for education systems in our region. This is a sensitive area, given that education systems tend to be highly national in nature.”
Mr Teo said the balance between regional and national programmes and how regional programmes can best add value to national initiatives is an interesting issue that warrants careful consideration.
“It is an area that regional organisations must also handle with care because of the sensitivity in the interface between regional and national programmes. The question in this regard, is how regional programmes can add value to national initiatives."
The Forum Education Ministers will also discuss the issue of Sector Wide Approaches highlighting the advantages and the challenges of this approach to education sector development and overall aid effectiveness. This approach has been adopted by several Forum Island Countries with assistance from various development partners.
The Ministers will also be briefed on a case study in Solomon Islands on how the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can enhance learning opportunities in remote communities.
UNESCO will also report to the Education Ministers on several initiatives including the ‘Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment’ and ‘UNESCO’s National Education Support Strategies’.
The meeting, hosted by the New Zealand Government, will be opened with a traditional Maori welcome on 26 November.
ENDS.
For more information, contact Dr Helen Tavola, the Forum’s Social Policy Adviser on phone: 679 331 2600 or email: helent@forumsec.org.fj
22nd November 2007
EDUCATION MINISTERS TO DISCUSS ‘ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR PACIFIC CHILDREN AND YOUTH’
Pacific Forum Education Ministers will discuss the theme of ‘Enhancing educational outcomes for Pacific children and youth’ when they gather in Auckland, New Zealand, 26 – 28 November.
“The Ministers will review the implementation of the Forum Basic Education Action Plan including an overview of the progress of the Pacific Regional Initiative for the Delivery of Basic Education (PRIDE) which is the implementation mechanism for the Plan,” Feleti Teo, Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat said.
Another important initiative is the development of a Pacific Regional Qualifications Register that is being developed by the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment. This will assist with the portability of qualifications within the region and ultimately with labour mobility.
Next year, it will be seven years since the Forum Basic Education Action Plan was conceived. It has been added to at each subsequent Education Ministers Meeting and is now a rather weighty document.
“While I’m sure that the areas in the Plan are still relevant, it is timely to sit back and review its contents and the relevance to the educational priorities expressed by our member countries. We need to look critically at the impact of the Plan and the various aspects of its implementation,” Mr Teo said.
“We would also like Ministers to start considering at this meeting what is the most appropriate form of support for education systems in our region. This is a sensitive area, given that education systems tend to be highly national in nature.”
Mr Teo said the balance between regional and national programmes and how regional programmes can best add value to national initiatives is an interesting issue that warrants careful consideration.
“It is an area that regional organisations must also handle with care because of the sensitivity in the interface between regional and national programmes. The question in this regard, is how regional programmes can add value to national initiatives."
The Forum Education Ministers will also discuss the issue of Sector Wide Approaches highlighting the advantages and the challenges of this approach to education sector development and overall aid effectiveness. This approach has been adopted by several Forum Island Countries with assistance from various development partners.
The Ministers will also be briefed on a case study in Solomon Islands on how the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can enhance learning opportunities in remote communities.
UNESCO will also report to the Education Ministers on several initiatives including the ‘Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment’ and ‘UNESCO’s National Education Support Strategies’.
The meeting, hosted by the New Zealand Government, will be opened with a traditional Maori welcome on 26 November.
ENDS.
For more information, contact Dr Helen Tavola, the Forum’s Social Policy Adviser on phone: 679 331 2600 or email: helent@forumsec.org.fj
