Pacific Education Ministers Empowering Education

NZ Minister for Education, Solomon Islands MEHRD Minister Hon Lanelle Tanangada, DS T&L Linda Wate, ESSP T&L TA Angellah Anisi

Solomon Islands is joining hands with Pacific Island states in ensuring continual improvement and empowerment of the Education Sector across the Blue Pacific Continent.

The Honourable Minster for Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) Lanelle Tanangada recently attended the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) in in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand, with the 2023 theme for the conference being ‘Empowering Education for Pacific People’.

The conference (20-22 March 2023) was attended by delegations from 15 pacific countries consisting of Education Ministers, senior government officials and regional stakeholders.

Hon. Lanelle Tanangada opened a roundtable discussion on Access, Inclusion and Equity by sharing that, “…for professional development to be truly continuous, it must take place frequently at all levels, national, provincial and most importantly at the school level.”

Hon. Lanelle Tanangada further stated that professional development programmes must be relevant to each country’s context, national plans and priorities. Other roundtable discussions at CPEM 2023 were Education Financing, Building Resilience and Quality and Relevance.

The CPEM Solomon Islands delegation accompanying Hon. Lanelle Tanangada was MEHRD Deputy Secretary for Teaching and Learning, Linda Wate, and MEHRD Technical Advisers Angellah Anisi Teaching and Learning Coordinator and Dr. Paul Beumelberg Teaching and Learning Adviser, supported by the Solomon Islands Education Sector Support Program (ESSP).

Following CPEM, the Solomon Islands delegation participated in the Pacific Board of Education Quality (PBEQ) meeting (23-24 March 2023) facilitated by the Education Quality Assessment Programme of the South Pacific Community (SPC) at The University of Auckland.

The meeting provided an opportunity for PBEQ to engage with its members to better understand their education priorities and needs. The inputs received from the members generate the future work plans of the SPC team.

MEHRD will continue supporting and learning from Education Sectors across the Pacific network in its efforts to achieve its Education Strategic Framework (2016-2030), National Education Action Plan (2022-2026), its commitment to the Pacific Regional Education Framework (2018 -2030), and the Education Framework for Action 2030 (SDG 4).

The CPEM was formerly known as the Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting held every two years. It is a valuable opportunity to come together face to face (kanohi ki te kanohi) to reconnect, facilitate dialogue on education issues and agree to a set of priority focus areas for regional collaboration.

The 2023 inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers was hosted by the New Zealand Government and supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, University of the South Pacific and the PacREF Facilitation Unit and included visits to the Temaki College and Manukau Institute.

MEHRD is partnering with the governments of Australia and New Zealand through the Solomon Islands Education Sector Support Program (ESSP) to increase access to quality basic education for all Solomon Islands children.

ENDS//

– MEHRD PRESS RELEASE

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