The Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP) team from the Pacific Community (SPC) conducted a mission in the country, which included school visits and understanding the teaching practices.

Education secretary Owen Lewis said the visit was part of a broader programming initiative involving five countries.

Lewis said the key objectives included a needs assessment to conduct a comprehensive assessment to identify key challenges, gaps and opportunities for better collaboration in the Primary Islands Literacy Numeracy assessment (PILNA).

“Essentially they were here to talk to the three trial schools that will occur in October in preparation for PILNA testing for next year.”
Lewis said the team visited selected schools to gain insights into their learning environments and teaching practices.

He added that they were also able to facilitate partnerships and collaboration with the Ministry and other stakeholders in the country and provided an overview of the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, importance of strengthening the school data collection and its linkages to Sustainable Development Goal 4 on the quality education.

In a statement, the Pacific Community said the opportunity allowed them to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment with the Ministry to identify key challenges, gaps and opportunities in the country and provide recommendations for the development and implementation of effective education strategies and programmes.

“The information gathered during this mission will be instrumental in informing SPC on measures to support the Cook Islands Ministry of Education,” SPC said.

“The outcomes will not only help to streamline SPC’s annual work plan but will also ensure that support is provided in an efficient and effective manner, tailored to the specific needs of the Cook Islands Ministry of Education.”

The visit ended on August 16.