Education leaders representing all nine provinces of the Solomon Islands are currently attending a Change Leadership course in Australia, at the University of Newcastle, on a program funded by the Australian Government. The training which takes place from November 3 to 17, 2024, seeks to build the leadership and management acumen of senior civil servants and other education stakeholders in the country.

The audience of the course entails influential persons, including individuals from the Ministry of Education, those from the educational providers in all the nine provinces, those from the Education Sector Support Program (ESSP), and other top education management persons. This initiative is aimed at empowering these leaders with the necessary management and leadership competencies needed to operate the education system in the Solomon Islands successfully.

Apart from the physical training that will take place at the University of Newcastle, the course will also have online elements and a … two-week follow-on session in Honiara, the capital city of Solomon Islands, in the month of February 2025. This is also aimed at being incorporated in the wider interventions towards promoting the implementation of the Education Act 2023 which seeks to enhance the quality and governance of education in the country.

In his Opening Address to participants, His Excellency Rod Hilton Australian High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands spoke about the significance of the course. He pointed out that the Program would make them effective in the delivery of education management and leadership responsive to the changes introduced by the new Education Act.

The course on Change Leadership shall equip the participants with good knowledge on the education management, governance, development and change base. This course is designed to improve their leadership capacities with the overall aim of improving the existing education structure in the Solomon Islands for the ultimate benefit of the students and communities in the region.

This capacity building program further enhances the already existing collaboration between Australia and Solomon Islands in the promotion of educational development and leadership espousal.