A classroom filled with children but limited learning and teaching resources, insufficient teachers of whom many haven’t received regular training, and decaying school buildings highlight some challenges prevalent in the Pacific.
A well-managed and well-sourced education budget making use of public and innovative financing can change this, ensuring every learner enjoys access to safe schools with updated textbooks, modern technology, and trained teachers.
This is what budgeting and financing in education are all about: making sure every child, regardless of their background and location, can get a quality education.
With the collaborative support of the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and UNESCO Pacific, the Institute of Education (IoE) at The University of the South Pacific has successfully updated its 12-week online course on education financing, which is part of its Professional Certificate in Education Policy and Planning (PCEPP).
This updated course provides learners with essential knowledge for effective planning and management of educational finances at both the school and system levels.
The course revision integrates a more contextualized and practice-oriented learning approach, exploring tools and approaches for budgeting and costing education interventions in the Pacific.
To accomplish this, a comprehensive learning design workshop was held from June 10 to 14 in USP, Laucala Campus, involving key IoE staff from Samoa and Tuvalu and Ministry of Education (MoE) Fiji staff members, along with IIEP-UNESCO and UNESCO Pacific staff. The group met with school leaders in Suva to explore how education is paid and budgeted for across Pacific countries.
The primary outcome of this initiative is a thoroughly revised and updated blueprint of the education financing course, designed to be a cutting-edge resource for educational planners and policy-makers. The new course engages learners in real-world problems and builds new knowledge based on the latest practices in education budgeting and financing.
The workshop succeeded in:
The updated PCEPP course is set to play a crucial role in equipping educational planners and policy-makers with the right set of tools and skills to shape education policies and planning, nurturing sustainable development in the Pacific.
For more information about the PCEPP and other professional development opportunities at the IoE, please visit USP IoE website.
Institute of Education
The University of South Pacific
Email: farita.wright@usp.ac.fj
Website: https://www.usp.ac.fj/institute-of-education/
