Forum Education Ministers To Meet In PNG

Forum Education Ministers To Meet In PNG

Press Release
7th October 2010

Ministers of Education from Pacific Islands Forum member countries will meet in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 13 – 14 October 2010 to discuss a wide range of issues concerning the development of the education sector in the region.

High on the agenda of the two-day meeting will be the presentation of a proposed implementation strategy for the Pacific Education Development Framework that was endorsed in Tonga in 2009. The meeting will also be presented with the last progress report of the Pacific Regional Initiative for the Development of Basic Education (PRIDE) Project.

Under the new strategy for the Pacific Education Development Framework, a number of regional initiatives will be presented and the Forum Education Ministers will discuss issues such as how to improve teacher competencies and effectiveness in the region, the development and implementation of the Pacific Teacher Professional Standards and a strategy for fast-tracking the training of untrained teachers in the region.

The Ministers will consider extending distance learning to schools through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), discuss a proposed strategy to strengthen education planning in the region, benchmarking education quality for results in the Pacific as well as introducing the concept of Open Schooling.

In addition Ministers will discuss ICT in education, a progress report on assessing and monitoring literacy, numeracy and life skills in the region, the role of the Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) in the implementation of the Pacific Education Development Framework, the Pacific Culture and Education Strategy 2010 – 2015 and the Regional Strategy for Disability. The Ministers will also discuss a broad range of educational issues during their retreat.

Before the meeting commences on 13th October, the Forum Education Ministers will visit educational institutions in the city of Madang, an initiative of the host, the PNG government, to showcase possible destinations for Pacific students in terms of higher tertiary studies.

ENDS

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