UNESCO Office for the Pacific States was invited to attend the Pacific Literacy Forum in Auckland, New Zealand from 11-13 March as an observer.

An offer to convene a Pacific Literacy Forum was made by New Zealand’s Associate Minister of Education, Pita Sharples, on behalf of the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, during the recent Pacific Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting in Vanuatu in May 2012. 

This was held from 11-13 March 2013.  The main aim of this Forum was to achieve a better understanding of early literacy strategies and initiatives used in New Zealand and the Pacific that could be adapted to meet early literacy issues in a variety of contexts and to share and develop practical ideas and steps towards improving literacy levels for all participating countries in the Pacific region. The forum covered key topics relating to the acquisition of literacy including how children learn language and the implications this has for the teaching of literacy in their mother tongue and a second language, strategies to engage parents and families in their children’s learning, professional development for teachers and support staff and ways to transition to using English as a language of instruction.

The meeting commenced with a Powhiri at Hoani Waititi Marae.  Keynote speakers included Dr Mere Berryman from Waikato University, Dr Lesieli Tongati’o from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand and Professor Stuart McNaughton from the University of Auckland.  Representatives from the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Niue, Tonga, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu attended.  UNESCO was invited as an observer along with participants from AusAID, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Qualifications Authority and Secretariat of the Pacific Board of Educational Assessment.

The forum enabled the sharing of current practices, challenges and initiative. Group discussions and school visits allowed Forum attendees the opportunity to present and discuss early literacy practices and challenges from their respective countries’ perspective, build networks of expertise and take away ideas and approaches that will strengthen literacy learning in the early years in the Pacific region.