- Honourable Minister of Education Hon. Lanelle Tanangada
- Hon. Ministers
- Your Excellencies,
- Mr. Rod Hilton – Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, and
- Mr. Jonathan Schwass – New Zealand High Commissioner to Solomon Islands
- Senior Government Officials
- MEHRD Staff
- Deans & Lecturers of the SINU
- Members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police
- Education Authority Representatives
- Members of the SINTA Executive
- Teachers
- Students
- Media Representatives covering the event
- Distinguished Guests,
- Ladies and Gentlemen
- I am thrilled indeed to be offered the opportunity to say the closing remarks and acknowledgement as we close the first part of our Education Act Celebrations Program.
- On behalf of our Minister of Education, Hon Lanelle Tanangada and the entire staff at the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, I would like to thank you all for joining us in this celebratory event.
- The staff of MEHRD and I have toiled relentlessly and waited for this moment – celebration of the passing of our Education Bill. I tend to have pictured myself holding the trophy, on behalf of my team with joy and speaking continually, almost ranting my heart to you – the audience.
- However, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and pay tribute to the many individuals who have contributed to the successful completion of the revised Education Legislation during my term in office, such as past and current members of the National Education Board, education authorities, SINTA Executive, teachers, technical advisors, and parents.
- May I extend a heartfelt thank you to you all for attending our event. Your presence and participation helped to make it a memorable and engaging experience. We hope that you gained valuable insights and connections from the event. We hope you took note of the key messages in the speeches delivered and found them valuable.
- In particular, I would like to extend my thanks and acknowledgement to my brilliant senior management team and Heads of Divisions for their confidence in me that I can lead them to accomplish one of our reform agenda. Your energy, optimism, and engaging approach is very much appreciated and added to the event’s unforgettable quality. It has been a pleasure working with you especially your leadership and vision steered the Education Bill project since you joined our team.
- My big thanks go to those of you who participated in the march from the HCC compound to where we are assembled now and thank you for showing your deep appreciation of the passing of the Education Bill by Parliament. This is indeed a milestone or awesome achievement that occurred in our lifetime. So, it is fitting that we all come together to celebrate our achievement together as key education stakeholders, development partners and beneficiaries of our education system.
- My thanks go to the Minister for her speech especially for highlighting the guiding principles of education in our country. There are 10 principles that are outlined in the Education Act and which the Minister mentioned. These make up the many different philosophies, theories, and practices that will guide our education system. The challenge for those of us who are given the responsibility to assure quality education for our children is; how do we put these to practice and enable our children to develop the desirable skills, knowledge and values and thus meet the standards of our education system and prepare our students for lifelong learning and survival?
- As the Minister stated, it has taken 6 Ministers of Education including herself to finally introduce the Education Bill to Parliament and pass it. This is a legacy Hon Lanelle will be remembered for – in years to come. I would also like to thank the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers for inclusion of the Education Bill in the Government’s Legislation Program and scrutiny of the Bill which led to its approval – to be tabled in Parliament.
- I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Excellencies – Rod Hilton and Jonathan Schwass for their attendance at this event as well as for their inspirational speeches.
- Your Excellencies, thank you so much for your kind words – for recognising not only our collective efforts to reform our education system for a better future, but also for your confidence in our leadership and persistence in implementation of our reform agenda for the betterment of our children’s learning and skills development in our country.
- I would like to thank you both for your Government’s continued financial support towards our education reform program. It was through the technical advisors both international and local that my Ministry was able to facilitate the drafting of the Education Bill. Not forgetting the input provided by the Attorney General, the Government Legislation Drafting Advisor and legal team from the Legislation Drafting Division at the Attorney General’s Chamber. Thank you so much for your time, energy and expertise to finalise the Bill before we could proceed with it to Cabinet. Our collective defence of the Bill before the Bills and Legislation Committee Inquiry is acknowledged and the Whole House Committee stage.
- Thanks to members of the MEHRD Education Legislation Taskforce – led by Deputy Secretary – James Bosamata for organising this event. I had no doubt from the day you were tasked to prepare for the celebrations that you’d deliver and so thank you for executing your plans.
- Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a real crossroads, at a decisive moment in the history of education in our country, when we must reimagine the future of education and provide all children with the opportunity to grow and thrive. We cannot squander this moment by going back to the education systems we had before. Armed with our new Education Act and the subordinate documents such as the new Education Funding Code, Administrative Instructions, and Learning Framework, I am confident that we will improve the quality of education in our country and will have significant impact on our learners.
- With the commencement date of our Education Act yet to be decided – let alone gazzetting of the Act and approval of the subordinate documents, our work is far from over, but what we have accomplished together has made a difference to our key education stakeholders and beneficiaries of our education system – our children. Let’s roll up our sleeves and continue this journey with more dedication than ever. If we have made this much progress in just 10 years, think what we can do and achieve in 10 years’ time.
- One of the biggest takeaways from this awesome achievement is the importance of intentional collaboration – at all levels of the education system and with other key education stakeholders or agencies that support students, family and teachers and their wellbeing. Armed with the new Education Act, we are rightly shifting our ambitions for the next 10 years – from not only emphasizing Education for All, but Learning for All.
- What we should be saying today is that with the guidance of the Education Act and new strategies to improve teaching and learning, our children, school age boys and girls, in every corner of our country, must be able to go to school and reap the benefits of life-long learning. We have the courage to say, we can, and must, do better this time around.
- The Education Act and subordinate documents and other documents that my Ministry has developed with support from our development partners emphasise the importance of a child’s education and our aspirations to do things differently and still achieve the desired educational outcomes. While we recognize progress already made – from our reform program – we also understand that more effort is needed if we are to translate the slogan of leaving no one behind into reality.
- Finally, this is my message to my staff. I know, I owe you all some money for your splendid work, leading to the finalization of the Education Bill and its subsequent introduction by our Minister to Parliament. Next time, I won’t bet against myself because the work has been accomplished and soon it would be my turn to retire, and you will be responsible – not only to socialize the Education Law to the intended audience, but most importantly, to implement it as intended.
- Once again, I would like to reiterate my deep appreciation and thanks for your participation in this event. Happy celebrations to you all!
