Tuesday 12 December 2023
A group photo of teachers from North Region at the Hotel Malaita, Auki.
A group photo of teachers from North Region at the Hotel Malaita, Auki.

A five member team from Parliament Education led by the Director of Parliament Education Unit Mrs.Marisa Pepa Galo are currently in Auki to conduct a series of trainings for school teachers in Malaita Province. Malaita will be the 3rd province in which this training is conducted.

In 2022 , the Speaker of Parliament Hon.Patteson.J.Oti and Minister of Education Hon Lanelle Tanangada launched the first ever Teachers Resource Book which was written by the Parliament Education Unit and published by the Ministry of Education as a supporting resource for Social Science teachers in Secondary schools.

The current curriculum does not have information about Parliament or the Legislature, the topic on governance mostly cover the executive arm of state or the government. These books provide an in-depth knowledge on the workings of Parliament or Parliamentary Democracy. It is written in a format that is easy to understand for both teachers and students. These books can also be used by any citizen who would like to learn about Parliament.

Over the years Parliament has seen the need to educate citizen on the roles and functions of Parliament. The quality of any Parliament depends entirely on the knowledge that people have about it. Educating our children in school will prepare them to participate in the whole democratic processes and most importantly electing leaders to represent them in Parliament.

Malaita Province has a total of one hundred and twenty secondary schools (120), there will be 3 separate trainings conducted given the big number of schools. The first workshop is for Central Region from 18-20 Nov, second workshop for Northern Region 5-7 Dec and third workshop will be held in Afio for Southern Region from 18-20 Dec.

This is a huge milestone for Parliament as Public Engagement is one of its key priorities. The Speaker of Parliament put great emphasis on this training, building from his vast experience as former MP and senior statesman. UNDP has been a key supporter of this program since the launch in 2022. This was made possible through the UNDP Strengthening Legislatures Capacity in Pacific Islands Countries Project (SLIP), which Japan and New Zealand are major sponsors.