Coalitions in Education hold two-day workshop

“I think we want to bring our marginalised populations from where they are to a new place”.

Mentoring and Advocacy Support Officer for the Vanuatu Education Policy Advocacy Coalition, Anne Pakoa made the statement during her remarks at the opening of a two day Sub Regional Melanesian Coalitions in Education Workshop which opened at the Melanesian Resort yesterday morning.

Representatives come from VEPAC, Coalition for Education in Solomon Islands (COESI), Papua New Guinea Education Network (PEAN), and Asia and South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) which is based in Canberra, Australia.

Pakoa said Vanuatu’s Minister of Education also has a vision to support the Vanuatu Education Goal Strategic Plan to 2015.

However she said in his Independence Anniversary national address, the Prime Minister said the country might not be able to meet its Millennium Development Goals by 2015. “This means that goals one to three may not be achieved. It is in this goal that ‘education for all’ is to be achieved. If the goal is not achieved then ‘universal primary education’ will not be achieved”, she said.

VEPAC is aiming to support the Ministry of Education in achieving this goal. In soliciting for public support in the way education services in Vanuatu is provided, VEPAC would like to see other partners contributing to improving education in the primary level especially in the area of literacy and numeracy.
She said the workshop has a duty ahead of it to contribute towards educating young people to decrease the gap between educated young people and uneducated young people.

Unfortunately neither the Minister of Education nor any representative from the Government could attend the workshop to interact with the dynamic group of professionals.

For some of them it is their first time to come to Vanuatu and it is clear that they have come to the workshop packed with both personal as well as professional experiences to share with their colleagues.
The workshop proceeded towards the business of the day following morning break yesterday. Daily Post could not stay.