8TH PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM EDUCATION MINISTERS’ MEETING
PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
13 – 14 OCTOBER 2010
PRESS RELEASE (99/10)
14th October 2010
OUTCOMES OF FORUM EDUCATION MINISTERS’ MEETING
The 8th meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Ministers of Education was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 13 – 14 October 2010 to consider issues related to the implementation and enhancement of the Pacific Education Development Framework (PEDF) and to deliberate on the theme: “Sustaining Education in the Pacific through Regionalism”.
Ministers of Education from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea together with representatives from Australia, the Cook Islands, Marshall, Nauru, New Zealand and Palau attended the meeting. PNG’s Minister of Education, Hon. James Marape chaired the two-day meeting.
Representatives of Council of Regional Organisations for the Pacific including the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA), University of the South Pacific (USP), Australia Aid for International Development (AusAID), the New Zealand Development Group (formerly NZAid), the United Nations Education, Social and Culture Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations International Children and Education Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) and the Asian Development Bank attended the meeting.
The Education Ministers expressed deep appreciation for the announcement by the Government of Papua Guinea during the occasion of their meeting the 20 scholarships each year for the next five years for students and youth from the region and PNG to study at Papua New Guinea educational institutions.
The Ministers acknowledged the pivotal role education plays in the development of countries in the region and urged governments to allocate the necessary level of resources to the sector. They also urged regional institutions, development partners and other educational deliverers in the region to work together with member governments on implementation of the Pacific Education Development Framework (PEDF) endorsed at their meeting in Tonga last year. The Framework’s underpinning philosophy is to nurture, develop and prepare all children in the region to be able to live life to the full, participating effectively in national development, maintaining their traditional and cultural identities and be able to live sustainably within the impacts of globalization.
The Education Ministers endorsed the proposed strategy for implementing the PEDF which strongly emphasises giving priority to country level activities. The intention is for greater support to be provided to countries through direct intervention by donors and development partners, or by way of regional programmes through collaboration amongst regional and international organizations and partner agencies, operating within the region.
Under the PEDF Implementation Strategy endorsed by the Ministers, three stages of activities will be undertaken in support of national efforts in implementing the Framework including a Baseline Survey to obtain accurate and valid information on the needs and status of education systems in the Forum island countries. A baseline survey questionnaire has already been sent to FICs in June of this year and all countries are expected to return their questionnaires by the end of this year.
The second stage of the PEDF implementation strategy is for FICs to integrate the priorities of the Framework into the work programmes of the countries through the inclusion and alignment of the PEDF objectives into national strategic development plans of FICs.
The third stage of the implementation strategy at the country level is that as the FICs progress in their efforts towards meeting educational goals, supported by external assistance through the strategies of the PEDF, it is imperative that countries maintain the relevance and linkages of what they are doing in relation to their overall national education priorities.
On the regional level, the PEDF implementation strategy stipulates that a small number of projects focusing on meeting major challenges in education will be implemented by existing educational institutions and organisations in the region. It is anticipated that with the development and implementation of these regional programmes, they will add value to the efforts of FICs and enable them to benefit substantially.
The Forum Education Ministers called for a strengthening of the coordination of efforts of regional and international agencies that are participating in the implementation of the PEDF. Their programmes must be aligned to the national priorities of FICs in education and must add value and complement national efforts.
The Ministers endorsed a monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of PEDF to track the progress and achievements of the initiatives under the Framework. They agreed that the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat will need to enhance its oversight and coordination role in coordinating the efforts and programmes of regional, international and development partners in the area of education.
The Forum Education Ministers urge all regional organizations, aid donors, development partners and multilateral agencies delivering educational services in the Pacific region to engage with the FICs in the implementation of the PEDF implementation strategy.
The 9th Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Vanuatu in May 2012.
ENDS.
For media enquiries, contact Mr Johnson Honimae, the Forum Secretariat’s Public Affairs Officer on phone 675 73746587 or email: johnsonh@forumsec.org.fj or johnson.honimae@gmail.com
