On Tuesday 11 November, Australia’s Minister for International Development, the Hon Dr Anne Aly, opened the inaugural Development and Education Conference (DevEd) 2025 at the State Library Victoria.
DevEd, which runs until 13 November, brings together experts from across Southeast Asia and the Pacific to discuss best practice and shared challenges in education.
It is a unique opportunity to highlight the collaborations between Australia and PNG under the Partnership for Improving Education program and Australia Awards PNG.
Acting Deputy Secretary of the National Department of Education, Ms Sabati Mero and Acting Deputy Secretary of the National Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Gideon Kaevakore, are members of the PNG delegation participating in the conference
Ms Mero said that school-based assessment (routine student assessment undertaken in schools in day-to-day learning), had been a topic of discussion and something that PNG was considering as part of its approach to delivering better education outcomes for all.
“At DevEd, I'm looking at strategies other countries are doing in terms of school-based assessment. It’s important as PNG is moving towards schools-based assessment. We need to identify the challenges that the region faces and the strategies other countries have implemented to overcome them. This will help us with provincial based and national based assessment too,” she said.
The PNG delegation is also contributing to the intended outcomes of the conference which include education system transformation, equitable and inclusive education and foundational learning (strong literacy and numeracy) for PNG’s youth. Mr Kaevakore believes that the key to unlocking this potential is through partnership.
“The area I'm interested in is partnership collaborations. I want to learn what the best partnership models in higher education are and learn from what other countries are doing. I am also interested in systems reform, learning from the overall progress of education reform around the globe and comparing it to where PNG is. Linking the reform to our own context to strengthen our own systems in PNG,” he said.
Australian High Commission Minister Counsellor, Madeleine Moss says that DevEd complements broader Australian support to strengthen Pacific education systems and tackle issues in our region and beyond.
"DevEd will provide the opportunity to strengthen our ties with the Pacific through people and education. Education is central to our shared ambition for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region,” she said.
Further information regarding the conference is available online :https://www.deved.org/
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Australia’s Minister for International Development, the Hon Dr Anne Aly, delivering opening remarks.
For further information, including access to related materials, please contact the Australian High Commission media team: +675 7090 0100