[OLPC-Oceania] Outcomes of the 8th Forum Education Ministers' Meeting

Michael Hutak hutak at laptop.org
Mon Oct 18 10:56:57 EDT 2010


Outcomes of the 8th Forum Education Ministers'
Meeting<http://www.forumsec.org.fj/pages.cfm/newsroom/press-statements/2010/outcomes-of-8th-forum-education-ministers-meeting.html>

*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 at forumsec.org.fj or johnson.honimae at gmail.com


-- 
-- 
Michael Hutak
Director, Oceania
One Laptop per Child
www.laptop.org
http://olpcoceania.blogspot.com
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Skype: michael.hutak
Cell: +61 412 001 052
Fax: +61 2 8008 1616
Web: www.hutak.com
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