The main areas of interventions by UNESCO:
- Coordinating EFA partners and strengthening partnerships through monitoring and supporting EFA implementation in the country;
- Support to development of ECE programme and promote inclusive education;
- Development of Non-formal Education, life-skills programme and literacy initiatives;
- Strengthening capacities of teacher training institutions to provide quality early childhood, primary and secondary pre-service and in-service teacher training programme through distance education;
- Pacific Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) for quality education through expanding the ASPnet Heritage Kit ‘Our Pacific Heritage’;
- Pacific response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development;
- Anticipating the impact of HIV/AIDS in the education sector through advocacy;
- Promotion of TVET-oriented arts education; and,
- Strengthening the capacity of technical and vocational institutions (UNESCO 2008).
Proposed UNESCO interventions:
- Improve the quality of teaching and instructor workforce across all levels and areas as well as the capacity of school administrators and inspectorate;
- Develop quality curricular for ECCE, schools, TVET and NFE/ Literacy
- Develop effective education policies, including integration with TVET and NFE policies;
- Introduce and mainstream monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in education system; and,
- Improve the distribution and utilization of educational resources (UNESCO 2008) .
Major development partners active in education and broad areas of intervention:
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- Supports the development and implementation of a National Skills Training Plan (ADB n.d.)
United Nations International children’s Education Fund (UNICEF)
- Works in partnership with the Provincial Education Departments towards the development and equitable provision of access to quality basic education.
- Supports the Child Friendly Schools System (CFS) (UNICEF n.d.)
European Union and New Zealand Agency for International Development (EU/NZAID):
- Helps in the design and development of “The Education Sector Investment and Reform Programme (ESIRP)” to facilitate education development, including:
- Strengthened the Ministry of Education’s management of the formal education system;
- Developed a programme to upgrade school infrastructure and a grants policy to increase access to education and the quality of education. Support has also been provided for fee free education to improve access;
- Revised curricula and distributed text books and teaching aids to primary schools;
- Made progress towards ensuring that trained teachers are available in every classroom. The New Zealand Aid Programme focuses on improvements to schools, while continuing to build the capacity of the Ministry of Education to sustain these results in the long term and also continues to provide scholarships for tertiary study and professional development to address the human resource shortages in the public and private sectors;
- Expanded support to technical and vocational education and non-formal education. The focus is on improved access to quality skills-based training that is relevant to improving livelihoods and quality of life (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade n.d.).
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID):
- Focuses efforts on improving service delivery, especially health and education;
- Supports for a Solomon Islands initiative to remove school fees has boosted primary school enrolment rates (AusAID 2011).
