The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D is honoured to participate in the second Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM-2) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. On Day One, Ministers engaged in a strategic roundtable discussion informed by two technical briefs prepared by COL, addressing crucial issues facing education systems across the Pacific.
The first brief, "Micro-credentials: Transforming Education and Employability," highlighted the role of micro-credentials in providing flexible, competency-based learning pathways, essential for lifelong learning and improved labour market outcomes.
The second brief, "Enhancing Teacher Quality through Open and Distance Learning (ODL)," presented innovative solutions to address teacher shortages, emphasising digitalisation, ODL, and regional collaboration as key to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 across Pacific Island nations.
COL President and CEO, Professor Peter Scott @peter_scott, joined Education Ministers (including the Honourable Minister of Education of Papua New Guinea, Mr Lucas Dekena, pictured with Professor Scott below) in discussing strategies to scale these innovations effectively in the Pacific region, underscoring COL’s commitment to equitable, inclusive, and quality education.
#COL4D #CPEM2025 #PacificEducation #MicroCredentials #TeacherQuality #SDG4 #CommonwealthLearning
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Tonga strengthens education access through Tu’uloa open school.
According to participants in a workshop recently organised by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, the Tongan education system is adequately equipped to manage its needs and the demand for K-12 education in the country. Most school-age students across the archipelago can access schooling within easy reach. While there is no significant unmet demand, some areas need help. These include subjects with a substantial dropout rate and access to K-12 education in rural and remote areas outside of the main urban centres in the country, as well as underperformance within particular groups, such as boys.
The Tongan education system has already begun to address this deficit by establishing the Tu’uloa Open School (TOS), which opens access to learning opportunities for those who, for various reasons, have been unable to complete their schooling. The word Tu’uloa in the Tongan language refers to sustainability. It means continuously growing, nurturing, and sustaining a valued idea, practice, event, or memory in an enduring way. Regarding education, this translates to affording citizens, young and older, to complete their high school education, improve their livelihoods, and access subsequent learning opportunities at the tertiary levels.
The goals of the Tu’uloa Open School are four-fold and include building resilience, supporting out-of-school children with the Ako Tu'uloa Programme for out-of-school students, encouraging retention through the Truancy, Reconciliation and Enforcement Unit of the Ministry of Education and Training, and supporting post-school pathways by offering technical and vocational training and education opportunities.
Dr Tony Mays, Director: Education COL, observed that in the context of Tonga, open schooling provision is not going to be about achieving economies of scale but instead finding smaller, cost-efficient and cost-effective ways to expand open schooling provision, even to learners in the outer islands, by digitising the curriculum and offering limited online support. In addition, since the open school is managed by staff at the Tonga National University (TNU), supporting capacity building in ODL provision for TNU staff will benefit both future open schooling provision as well as future open higher education provision.
Image caption: This photo by the Asian Development Bank is licensed under CC BY-NC
#COL4D #EducationForAll #OpenSchooling #DistanceLearning #DigitalEducation #LifelongLearning #CommonwealthEducation #Tonga #EdTech #InclusiveEducation #TuuloaOpenSchool
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The Honourable James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Professor Peter Scott @peter_scott, President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, met in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on 17 March 2025.
Professor Scott is an official delegate to the Second Pacific Education Ministers Meeting – also known as the Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) – and is attending ministerial roundtables and a meeting of development investors in the region.
This historic event marks the first time a Pacific Island nation has hosted the conference, which will bring together education ministers from 18 countries, including nine small island member countries, alongside Australia and New Zealand.
The theme of the meeting, "Transforming Edukesen (Education) for a Better Pacific," reflects a focus on adapting and improving education systems across the region to address shared priorities and global challenges.
#CPEM2025 #COL4D #PacificEducation #EducationForAll #TransformingEducation #CommonwealthOfLearning #PapuaNewGuinea #PacificLeaders #EducationInnovation #SustainableDevelopment #InclusiveEducation #CapacityBuilding
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