Pacific Focal Points meeting in Fiji

The final of four regional Focal Points meetings in early 2023 concluded with eight of the nine Commonwealth Member States in the Pacific meeting in Lautoka, Fiji from 23 to 24 March. Focal Points are senior officials nominated by education ministers to keep them briefed on COL’s work and provide guidance on country priorities, serving as valuable strategic advisors.

Senior officials from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu participated in the meeting. The Director of the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) also joined in.  Professor Asha Kanwar, who chaired the meeting, highlighted the importance of building disaster resilience in education and spoke about open educational resources, as well as COL’s agenda for education and climate action. The Focal Points emphasised building teachers’ capacity in online learning as a priority in the region.