Press release
24th Consultation Meeting of the Pacific Heads of Education Systems (PHES)
The Pacific Islands are a region of small island developing states with rich and diverse backgrounds. In addition there are many commonalities and development challenges both unique to individual countries and common to all. Isolation, travel difficulties, geographical difficulties, small and vulnerable economies, a great diversity of languages and changes as a result of climate change all contribute to the challenges faced by educators. These common challenges are best addressed by seeking regional solutions by working together through closer cooperation and collaboration.
The Forum Basic Education Action Plan (FBEAP) was the first regional education plan which was later revised as the ‘Pacific Education Development Framework’ (PEDF) 2009 to 2015. A new framework, the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF) 2018-2030, has been developed by the PHES through the mechanism of a Small Working Group. This framework supports a Pacific response to Sustainable Development Goal 4 and further enriches the commitment of countries in the region to the Incheon Declaration and the Education 2030 agenda.
The meeting intends to support PHES members’ further mutual-understanding and discussion on considerations in advancing each country’s education agenda, in particular in the context of COVID-19 and beyond, share country experience and challenges, and collectively identify areas for regional collaboration.
The 24th Consultation Meeting of the PHES will also host a Pacific consultation on the International Conference on Adult Education VII (CONFINTEA), which will take place in Morocco in 2022, to promote literacy skills and basic education for marginalized adults and improve opportunities for lifelong learning to bridge the education-divide.
Speaking about the meeting, Dr. Uke Kombra, Secretary for Education, Government of Papua New Guinea stated: “it was an honor to be accorded the opportunity to be the Chair of this important conference, a decision from the Niue Consultation in 2019”. He applauded the work of the outgoing Chair, Birtha Togahai, in ensuring that the Agenda 2030 on education for sustainable development was promoted within the context of the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF).
Challenges still remain and regional approaches to benchmark setting on target areas must proceed. Dr. Kombra pledged to promote discussion and encourage dialogue among the pacific states as a means to ensure effective monitoring and transparent communication of data is upheld.
He urged the Pacific states to embrace opportunities provided as a result of challenges through proactive charting of a way forward to effectively implement the Agenda 2030 on Education for Sustainable Development.
Nisha, Director of the office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States said that “The 24th Consultation Meeting of the Pacific Heads of Education Systems (PHES) is being co-hosted by Papua New Guinea with UNESCO at a critical juncture for education sector in the Pacific. As much as there are similarities across the Pacific SIDS, it is a time when we can also clearly see the differentiated impacts of COVID-19 pandemic among and within the SIDS. UNESCO as the co-convener of PHES is there to support the countries cooperate and coproduce solutions where similarities are while helping identify trends and partnerships that will shape future provision of education.”
To join the virtual meeting, please register using the official organizational email address below:
For further inquiries, please contact:
DOE: Joseph AULI, Executive Director, UNESCO National Commission Joseph_Auli@education.gov.pg
UNESCO: Aya AOKI, Programme Specialist for Education a.aoki@unesco.org
