[Honiara, Solomon Islands] 26 September 2024 – AUSTRALIA, New Zealand and Solomon Islands government representatives took part in a special ceremony at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) – Education Resource Unit (ERU) to hand over a new forklift today. The event demonstrated partners’ commitment to improving access to quality education for all Solomon Islands children.
The new forklift, valued at approximately SBD 210,000 and jointly funded by the Australian and New Zealand governments through the Education Sector Support Program, will facilitate the distribution of textbooks and other learning resources to schools across the region.
The handover event, attended by representatives from MEHRD, the Australian High Commission, New Zealand High Commission, and the school community, celebrated ongoing efforts to improve educational infrastructure and resources.
Dr. Franco Rodie – Permanent Secretary of Education stated that he acknowledged and thanked the Governments of Australia and New Zealand for the new forklift which was funded under the Education Sector Support Program to the ministry. He added that the forklift would help his staff at the Education Resource Unit warehouse to lift, move and stack curriculum materials and other educational materials efficiently and safely within the Education Resource Unit warehouse and into the trucks for distribution to schools. The first forklift that the MEHRD bought broke down somewhat 10 years ago, and made it difficult for the staff to lift or move educational resources within the warehouse of waiting trucks ready for distribution to schools.
The Australian High Commission’s Counsellor of Human Development Dr. Tristan Armstrong added, ” As strong, long-term partners supporting Solomon Islands’ Education Sector, Australia is always here to listen and respond in a practical and timely way to requests for assistance. I am so happy that we are here today to celebrate this handover, which will make such a difference to the effectiveness of the Education Resource Unit. Support such as this aligns with Australia’s focus on human development and empowerment through education.”
New Zealand High Commission First Secretary Olivia Benton-Guy expressed New Zealand’s commitment to supporting the Solomon Islands education sector, “This forklift is a small but meaningful contribution to our longstanding partnership with Solomon Islands in education. New Zealand, Australia and MEHRD have invested heavily in curriculum and teacher resource development over the past 5 years and this forklift will build on this work, to enable ERU to more effectively work to get these resources out to schools, and in to the hands of students.”
The Education Sector Support Program is a partnership between MEHRD, Australia and New Zealand aimed at increasing access to quality and inclusive education for all children in the Solomon Islands.
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The Solomon Islands Education Sector Support Program (ESSP) provides the strategic direction and implementation arrangements for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) combined investment to support the Solomon Islands Government to implement its Education Strategic Framework (ESF) 2016-2030 and the National Education Action Plan 2022-2026.
