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Paula S. Bloomfield

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Interim Minister of Education

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The Hon. Mr. Paula Sunia Bloomfield was appointed Interim Minister of Education and Interim Minister Responsible for Youth, Sports and Culture by His Majesty, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV on 3 January 2002, having previously served as Director of Education from 1982 to 2001. Between 1956 and 1982, he held various teaching and administrative positions in primary, secondary and tertiary divisions of the Ministry of Education, including Principal of Tonga High School and Lecturer, Tonga Teachers’ Training College. He was also seconded from the Tonga Government to serve as the Coordinator of the Commonwealth Youth Programme for the South Pacific from 1979 to 1982. The Hon. Bloomfield is a member of His Majesty’s Cabinet and Privy Council, as well as the Tonga Legislative Assembly. He is also the President of the Tonga National Commission for UNESCO. He has served on a number of regional organizations, including the Council of the University of the South Pacific. He holds a Diploma in Education for Developing Countries and a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration and Planning from the University of London Institute of Education.

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Quality Education for Life Long Learning

In May 2004, the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga adopted the National Education Policy Framework for the next 15 years. Strategies for development in education in this policy framework are based on three strategic goal areas aiming at:

  1. Further improvement of equitable access to and quality of universal basic education for all children in Tonga up to Year 8;
  2. Further improvement of access to and quality of post basic education and training to cater for the different abilities and needs of the individuals, as well as the needs for economic development of the country in the context of the globalized world economy;
  3. Improvement of the administration and management of education and training so that the quality of educational performance is enhanced.

Tonga strongly supports the UNESCO initiative on “Education For All”, and is committed to supporting the Millennium Development Goals, one of which focuses on universal basic education.

The initiatives to support this commitment concentrate on the heart of education: learning and teaching. These initiatives include:

  • · Extending access to free universal basic education from Year 6 to Year 8 for all students;
  • · Revising and strengthening school curriculum – focusing on basic life skills, moral instructions, and literacy;
  • · Improving assessment of student achievement;
  • · Improving teacher supply and teacher quality;
  • · Improving provision of early childhood education;
  • · Improving provision of education for children with special needs.

The Government of the Kingdom of Tonga sees investment in people as its highest priority. An investment in people’s skill development is necessary in order to ensure that the country achieves sustainable growth and development in the context of globalization. Investments will focus on improving the match between the outcomes of the education system and the skill needs of the labour force, with a view to improving the country’s economic performance. The concept of learning will be expanded to include activities that occur outside formal school settings and will encompass life long learning, and greater, and more effective use of distance, flexible modes of learning and ICT.

Key areas of policy focus include:

  • · Skill development and lifelong learning;
  • · Reorganization of Tertiary Education;
  • · Education after Year 8;
  • · Information and Communication Technology;
  • · Youth, Sports and Culture.

Policy development will be undertaken to create a more responsive environment to support training culture, with incentives for students to upgrade their skills and for people in and out of the work force to be upskilled or retrained.

In order to achieve quality education and to enhance lifelong learning, Tonga needs to improve delivery of education and training, better administration and co-ordination of delivery and support services, improve students’ achievement and improve efficiency and resource use in education.

It is within this context that Tonga welcomes the initiative by the International Bureau of Education in providing this forum for decision makers in education to deliberate on the challenges and to share experiences on improving the quality and delivery of education for all.