PRIDE project handed over to USP

02/11/2010

Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education project or PRIDE, which is celebrating seven years of success and achievements, was officially handed over to University of the South Pacific last night.

PRIDE project is a major regional mechanism in the delivery of quality education in the Pacific which is financed by the European Union and NZ Aid Programme through the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

It seeks to enhance student learning in 15 Pacific countries by strengthening the capacity of each Ministry of Education to plan and deliver quality basic education, including early childhood, elementary, primary and secondary education, together with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and covers both the formal and non-formal sectors.

USP Vice Chancellor, Professor Rajesh Chandra said the main review finding was that PRIDE had been a successful project as measured by the extent of success achieved against the various objectives.

“We are pleased to have been the implementing agency and we are very pleased that our own experience in education, the expertise that the university has had, has added partially to this success,” Professor Chandra said.

He assured the Ministers of Education that USP would provide sustainability to some of the key components of PRIDE.

“What we will be able to do is that we will use the experience and the capacity that has been built to support the improvement in education in the region mainly through the Institute of Education which we have strengthened. Generally, we will be using the university’s overall resources,” Professor Chandra said.

“We have already taken the responsibility of administering the main list of PRIDE which is Network of Pacific Educators, which has been a very good instrument for sharing ideas and experience. This is already running well and we intend to improve on that.”

USP has also taken the responsibility to look after and further develop Pacific Archive of Digital Data for Learning and Education or PADDLE.

“PADDLE is the large education resource base that PRIDE has developed and we will wish to expand that as part of USP’s broader programme to make available the broadest knowledge base for the Pacific Island Countries,” the USP Vice Chancellor said.
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 Tonga’s Minister for Education, Hon.Tevita Palefau launching PRIDE’s final publication titled ‘Best Practice in Pacific Education: Learning with PRIDE’ at the USP gymnasium last night.

Tonga’s Minister for Education, Hon.Tevita Palefau also launched PRIDE’s ninth and final publication titled ‘Best Practice in Pacific Education: Learning with PRIDE.’

Apart from Fiji, PRIDE serves Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.