Pacific education is going through a crucial period of review to better reflect national priorities but hand-in-glove with ensuring quality and relevance in a globalised society.
SPBEA¹ provides two²qualifications for the end of senior secondary education for seven Pacific Island Countries³, which certifies the end of secondary education, prepares Pacific students for further studies, employment or some form of productive engagement in the subsistence sector.
The PICTA⁴agreement for Trading in Services (TIS) and the Temporary Movement of Natural Persons (TMNP); the RSEs⁵ by Australia and New Zealand; the movement of learners and academics not only within but also outside of the Pacific have significant implications in countries' curriculum design, content selection and organisation and assessment methodologies employed. One of the key challenges is the up-skilling of the teaching profession to competently cope with a transition from a content-based curriculum to an outcomes-based system within the environment of fast changes in assessment modalities. The fragility of the Pacific Islands resource base (economic, personnel, expertise etc) needs to be integrated into the total developments.
Almost all Pacific Island Countries are in the process of developing National Qualifications Agencies which will bring some coherence and the all important element of quality assurance to the plethora of post secondary education provision and a variety of qualifications awarded. The establishment of National Qualifications Frameworks and National Qualifications Registers will be amongst the most valuable outcomes.
From the Regional Level, SPBEA has started development of a Pacific Qualifications Register to support and strengthen national qualifications agencies, and host a repository of all the accredited qualifications from the country systems. This paves the way for enhancing the portability of learning, mobility of learners, facilitate the international equivalence and recognition of Pacific Qualifications and the mobility of Pacific workers into the global labour environment.

References:

1. The South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment based in Suva, Fiji.
2. The Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate (PSSC) at end of Form 6 and the South Pacific Form Seven Certificate (SPFSC) at the end of Form 7
3. Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
4. Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement
5. Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme