Advancing efforts to strengthen Pacific education system resilience
Group photo of the Pacific Regional Education System Resilience Toolkit – Co-design Workshop Cohort
The Pacific Regional Education System Resilience Observatory project, supported by the Global Partnership for Education's Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), aims to examine the meaning and practices of education system resilience (ESR) across the Pacific and explore how education systems can prepare and respond effectively to anticipated future disruptions.
To support this critical initiative, Education officials, development partners, and researchers gathered in Suva, Fiji, from 8 – 9 April 2025. Education ministry representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, and Tonga, alongside donor agencies and technical partners, came together to collaboratively shape a set of practical, contextually relevant data collection tools.
Central to the workshop hosted by the Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was the development of data collection instruments, surveys, interview protocols, and observation checklists, designed through a foresight lens and grounded in Pacific knowledge systems. These tools will inform the broader Resilience Toolkit, which aims to support decision-makers and educators across the region.
For SPC, the workshop provided a crucial platform for inclusive dialogue and shared learning. According to the workshop co-facilitator, Dr. Krishneel Reddy, SPC’s Education Specialist - Research, the workshop reaffirmed that education resilience in the Pacific cannot be a borrowed concept; it must be locally grounded, culturally anchored, and forward-looking.
“Through this co-design process, we were able to develop tools that are not only technically sound but also deeply reflective of the realities of Pacific education systems”, he said.
Discussions and group activity during the Co-design Workshop
Dr Krishneel Reddy, Education Specialist - Research and co-facilitator of the Pacific Regional Education System Resilience Toolkit – Co-design Workshop
Willy Tony of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department of Education
Matsu Kumain, Assistant Secretary for the Project Management Division at Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Ministry of Education, highlighted that education resilience efforts in PNG are often challenged by the country’s vast diversity and the complexity of crisis response across its regions.
“PNG is diverse, and we experience crises in many forms right across the country. One of our recurring challenges is the timely mobilisation of resources from the national department. We can respond quickly in areas that are easily accessible, but it’s a challenge reaching those in remote locations,” he said.
Matsu Kumain, Assistant Secretary for the Project Management Division at the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department of Education.
Reflecting on what he would take back from the workshop, Matsu said the most valuable aspect was learning how to better harmonise data and information within PNG’s unique context.
“There's a lot of takebacks here, especially the framework and understanding how we are going to talk about resilience … and decide on the strategy that is more efficient for us as a country,” he said.
Similarly, Alietaa Langilangi, a research officer at the Tongan Ministry of Education, described the workshop as very helpful as it presented methodologies that will help ensure the timely collection of reliable and accurate data, which is essential for decision making and supporting recovery efforts during a disaster.
“This session focussed on identifying methodologies for studying resilience, including foresight research methodologies. To top this session, we were presented with the Pacific Pathfinder toolkit, which will be very helpful and handy, a good guide for policy analysts and planners involved in strategic planning within the ministry”, she said.
Alietaa Langilangi, Research Officer - Tonga Ministry of Education
The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) Senior Programme Manager for Education, Natasha Verma, was also present at the workshop as an observer. She emphasised that education resilience remains a key priority for the Pacific and its leaders and highlighted the value of the Pacific Regional Education System Resilience (ESR) Toolkit in supporting this goal.
Insights gathered from the workshop will inform the broader GPE KIX-funded study on education system resilience currently being undertaken by SPC and ACER, supporting efforts to build a more responsive and adaptive education system across the region.
