BY JOY OFASIA
STUDENTS, teachers, top government officials, and international development partners today celebrated International Education Day 2024.
The occasion, which was held at Honiara Senior Secondary School, highlighted the significant role education plays in promoting peace and sustainable development.
The theme for this year’s celebrations is “learning for lasting peace,” which emphasizes the recognition of the role that education has played in engaging the children in the country to make means for their lives and to build peace in the places they shall live and serve.
International Education Day normally falls on January 24; however, the organizers have retrospectively seen it fitting to hold the event not on Wednesday, but on Friday.
Together with the international call, the government’s Ministry of Education and Human Resources (MEHR) acknowledges the marking of the day as a recognition of education as being a pillar to:
- accelerate progress against the SDG4 Quality Education
- Break the cycle of poverty.
- improve health outcomes.
- prepare people for decent jobs with opportunities to reskill and upskill.
- progress in peace and social cohesion, and
- mitigate the climate and protracted crisis
According to the Ministry of Education, the International Day of Education provides all the education partners with an opportunity to acknowledge the tireless efforts and commitments of government, churches, education partners, education providers, relevant NGOS, universities and schools, parents, and guardians to educate our learners, from the ECE to the TVET/tertiary level.
“In the Solomon Islands, the existence of informal and non-formal education sectors continues to exist alongside the formal education sector and ought to be acknowledged. The informal and non-formal education sectors play a significant role in providing creative skills and values, including those of the arts, for the learners throughout the country.”
