Education
UNICEF Pacific works with governments and partners to strengthen inclusive, resilient education systems so more children, including adolescents, develop holistically, learn and build skills and resilience.
The challenge
Across the Pacific, learning outcomes show that just 43 per cent of Year 4 and 53 per cent of Year 6 students meet the minimum expected standard in reading, while 67 per cent (Year 4) and 72 per cent (Year 6) meet the minimum expected standard in numeracy (PILNA 2021).
Pacific Island countries are acutely vulnerable to climate-induced extreme weather and natural hazards, disrupting children’s access to safe, quality learning.
Challenges contributing to this include:
- Many children do not access early childhood education (ECE) and ECE quality remains a concern in most countries, raising concerns about children not having the foundational early learning and skills they need for a successful start to primary school.
- Primary enrolment is high in many Pacific countries, but learning outcomes remain below minimum benchmarks for a substantial share of students.
- Transition from primary to secondary school is a concern, and dropouts in secondary school are increasingly common, with inadequate alternate learning pathways available.
- Teachers lack access to ongoing training and support for the teaching skills and resources they need to ensure foundational learning and skills for every student.
- Teachers face increasing pressure and declining support needed to create positive and safe learning environments, particularly in the context of declining social cohesion, increasing mental health concerns, and new risks like drugs in school environments.
- Participation in education is very low for children with disabilities across the Pacific, and both students and teachers lack the support needed for schools to be truly inclusive environments that support learning for all.
- Girls and boys both face gender-based barriers to engagement, support and performance in school, and for preparation for success in life and further learning after school.
- Availability and reliability of data is a persistent barrier to monitoring education access and learning across the Pacific. Where data is available, it is not always used to inform policy, planning, and system improvement.
- Pacific Island countries are acutely vulnerable to climate-induced extreme weather and natural hazards, disrupting children’s access to safe, quality learning, while curricula and teaching give inadequate attention to building climate knowledge and resilience in children, as well as environmental and ocean literacy.
- Education systems lack the policies, plans and data needed to make well-informed decisions about how to deliver quality education nationwide. Furthermore, the cost and complexity of operating in Pacific small island states is high, with the same requirements as larger systems, but fewer resources and cost-efficiencies available.
The solution
In partnership with governments and partners, UNICEF aims that by 2027 more children in the Pacific, including adolescents and those in emergencies, are developing holistically, learning and building skills and resilience they need for life and their future.
Pacific Island countries and territories are committed to delivering education that is high-quality, relevant, equitable and inclusive, well-grounded in cultures and contexts of each nation, and well-oriented to preparing students as well for success in a global economy.
UNICEF is proud to partner with each of the 14 Pacific Islands to meet this aim in relevant and impactful ways, targeting key barriers for access and learning, strengthening systems and building toward sustainable solutions that work at national scale.
We work with governments and partners throughout the region to reach the most vulnerable, innovate and transform teaching in education systems well-grounded in culture, strengthen systems for children, and ensure no child is left behind.
UNICEF is guided by each nation’s priorities, and at regional-level, by the priorities laid out by the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF).
Across the Pacific, we are working to:
- Ensure all children enter primary school ready to learn, by strengthening access and quality to early childhood education, supporting high-quality, locally relevant curricula and materials; teacher training and support; and policies and budgets that make this possible nationwide.
- Promote foundational learning for all children, with teacher training, improved pedagogy, updated curricula and resources relevant to each context, effective use of remote and digital learning, where relevant.
- Improve inclusive and gender-responsive teaching and learning, ensuring that girls, boys, children with disabilities and every student benefits from the individualized support and safe learning environments they need to learn and thrive.
- Build the resilience of education systems by strengthening climate, environmental and ocean literacy, and by supporting schools and communities to prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters so learning can continue during shocks.
- Improve education data and use to inform planning so that education resources and services are targeted to key priorities and where they make the most impact.
- Promote multi-sectoral collaboration for early childhood development (ECD) and education through coordination of policies and services, including in schools. For more on our multisectoral work in ECD, please visit: Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development.
- Support regional and cross-country collaborations, evidence-generation and learning to maximize efficiencies for Pacific countries, with adaptations as needed for relevance in each country.