PNG included in Australia-Pacific education programme

THE Australian government has launched an education programme to strengthen its links with Pacific Islands neighbours.
The Australian-Pacific bridge school partnerships programme will over the next two years involve schools in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. They will take part in the pilot programme connecting them with Australian schools.
This was announced yesterday in a joint statement by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. “The programme will support collaborative, intercultural learning and facilitate exchanges between teachers on best practices in education,” the statement said.
“It will support increased use of digital technology to link classrooms with resources and information from around the world.
“A key focus of the programme will be to strengthen links between schools that offer education to students with a disability.
“Fourteen school partnerships will be established over the two-year pilot period, with one primary and one secondary school partnership per country and at least three schools focused on students with a disability”.