Education Programme
The purpose of the Education Programme is to increase the percentage of children benefiting from the equitable provision and completion of quality basic education. This will be achieved through investment in five key areas: (1) the development of Early Childhood Education and basic education policies; (2) the implementation of Child Friendly Schools – an innovative, evidence-based school improvement programme; (3) the availability and use of primary curricula which instruct academic and non-academic learning outcomes; (4) the use of data for improved decision making and planning by teachers, schools and education authorities; and (5) Emergency and Post-Disaster Education Support. UNICEF works in partnership with regional Ministries of Education and regional organizations such as the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of basic Education (PRIDE) as well as the South Pacific Board for Education Assessment (SPBEA) to promote children’s rights to, in and through education. Looking Back Development of Education Policies A number of policies were drafted in 2009. UNICEF assisted with the drafting of the Early Childhood Policy in Vanuatu. The policy will be presented to Cabinet by mid 2010. Senior level Ministry of Education officials in Vanuatu also revised an Inclusive Education Policy to align it with international standards. In Solomon Islands, after much provincial dialogue, a language in education policy was finalized with support from UNICEF. The policy echoes the importance of mother tongue instruction for the younger grades, as advocated by UNICEF over the course of policy formulation. Child Friendly Schools Under the guidance of the Ministries of Education in the three priority countries, National CFS Committees, were formed in each of the three focus countries as a first step in the development of national CFS frameworks. In addition, national CFS standards were drafted for each country therein identifying the key results for the national CFS frameworks. National Education Sector Policies/ plans also now recognize CFS, in particular the Basic Education Policy of the Solomon Islands and the Vanuatu Education Road Map. Both documents clearly highlight the CFS approach as one which Ministries of Education support as a means of achieving national sector goals. Improving Primary Curricula A strategic multi-year Project Corporation Agreement with SPBEA was signed, in the areas of life-skills benchmarking and literacy and numeracy communication campaigns. A series of print and audio-visual materials on literacy and numeracy were developed for teachers, parents and students by SPBEA and the Ministry of Education in Kiribati with the aim of increasing awareness on the importance of national literacy and numeracy benchmarks. UNICEF supported student assessment practices by teachers in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati – confirming that teachers struggle to apply adequate assessment techniques. The result of these brought together Ministries of Education to prioritise the development of National Assessment Policies (Solomon Islands; Vanuatu) and/or to strengthen in-service teacher training on assessment (Kiribati). Emergency and Post-Disaster Education Support When the Government of Vanuatu requested support for the development of an Education in Emergency Preparedness Plan, UNICEF responded by holding the first Pacific Education in Emergency Planning workshop. Together with support from Save the Children Australia, the workshop was attended by participants from Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Fiji and as a result the countries have requested assistance in the drafting of similar Education Emergency Preparedness Plans. UNICEF has also provided humanitarian assistance through the provision of school tents, education kits as well as water and sanitation school facilities to the Ministries of Education in Samoa and Solomon Islands after a tsunami and an earthquake struck the two island nations. Pacific Early Childhood Education kits, developed by UNICEF in 2008, were also used in the emergency response. Moving Forward In 2010 the following activities are planned: • Completion of a Child Friendly Schools Baseline and Evaluation in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati. The research study began in late 2009 and will result in the complete education programme baseline.
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