Solomon Islands

by Tom Levec of ATiT for VISCED, based on initial Re.ViCa entry by Paul Bacsich

For entities in Solomon Islands see Category:Solomon Islands

Experts situated in Solomon Islands

None so far.

Solomon Islands in a nutshell

The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. Together they cover a land mass of 28,400 square kilometres (10,965 sq mi).

The population is 523,000.

The capital is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal.

The Solomon Islands are believed to have been inhabited by Melanesian people for thousands of years. The United Kingdom established a protectorate over the Solomon Islands in the 1890s. Some of the most bitter fighting of World War II occurred in the Solomon Islands campaign of 1942–45, including the Battle of Guadalcanal. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. The Solomon Islands is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state.

Since 1998 ethnic violence, government misconduct and crime have undermined stability and society. In June 2003 an Australian-led multinational force, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), arrived to restore peace, disarm ethnic militias and improve civil governance.

The North Solomon Islands are divided between the independent Solomon Islands and Bougainville Province in Papua New Guinea.

Education in Solomon Islands

(sourced mainly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Solomon_Islands)

Education in the Solomon Islands is not compulsory and only 60 per cent of school-age children have access to primary education.

From 1990 to 1994, the gross primary school enrollment rose from 84.5 percent to 96.6 percent. Primary school attendance rates were unavailable for the Solomon Islands as of 2001. While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect children’s participation in school. Efforts and plans made by the Department of Education and Human Resource Development to expand educational facilities and increase enrollment are said to have been hindered by a lack of government funding, misguided teacher training programs, poor coordination of programmes, and a failure of the government to pay teachers. The percentage of the government=s budget allocated to education was 9.7 percent in 1998, down from 13.2 percent in 1990.

Schools in Solomon Islands

Primary

• Woodford International Primary School
• Kieta Primary School

Secondary/High

• North Solomons International High School
• King Geroge IV
• Goldie College
• St Joseph's School Tenaru
• Su'u Secondary School
• Betikama Adventist College

Further and Higher education

Universities in Solomon Islands

The University of the South Pacific has a campus on Guadalcanal.

ICT in education initiatives

A few schools in urban areas have been building IT strategies and acquiring donated equipments. This seems to be as a result more of enlightened school management than of official IT strategy.

• For instance Betikama Adventist College lays claim to having an in-house IT strategy in place and to having been successful in acquiring 10 donated second-hand computers. However, they have had problems implementing the strategy due to inadequately prepared facilities and lack of support in the form of technicians. Observing the association between these problems and the lack of a central ICT strategy in education, the school recognises the need for further ICT development at a secondary level and would welcome a move in that direction.
• In rural areas the problems are compounded by lack of basic power and communications, poor transportation and shortages of all resource materials. However, this is where the need is greatest. The economic consequences of the ethnic conflict have had serious negative effects upon the ability of the Ministry of Education to continue financing overseas post-secondary scholarships. The Ministry’s priority is basic education, but the magnitude of the problems precludes financing even that properly.

The necessity of finding local solutions to post-secondary training becomes important in this context. In addition, distance education, properly resourced and organised, could assist in reversing the accelerating trend of an increasing number of school ‘push-outs’ and drop-outs throughout the educational system.

• The situation in tertiary education is mixed. The Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) did not have a computer lab until 2007. SICHE has suffered greatly during the economic collapse following the ethnic conflict, and is now undergoing a review for restructuring under an EU-financed program.
• The University of the South Pacific (USP) already has a USP Centre in Solomon Islands, and there are plans to open a campus. USP has identified the need to promote and facilitate more ICT awareness and capacity building for students. The USP Centre is linked to the USP-Net satellite system, which offers a 64kbps Internet link, video conferencing and other facilities. It is a minimum requirement to have PCs available to students for the purposes of supporting them in:
  • (a) research via Internet and through shared resources made available on USP-Net;
  • (b) communication via email; and
  • (c) office computing, so that students are able to present their results in a standardised and efficient manner.

Other ICT For Education Initiatives

• Youth First Computer Centre
  • With funding from the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the Rural Development Volunteers Association (RDVA) has established the Youth First Computer Centre, which is targeted especially at students who need access to computers and the Internet to conduct research for assignments and to learn how to use the ICT. The Youth First Computer Centre is providing basic computer training, electronic library, secretarial services and Internet access.
  • Ten (10) primary schools, six (6) community high schools, two (2) national high schools and the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education are within the vicinity. The Centre has also extended its services to the public and school push-outs.
  • The Coordinator reports to the chairman of the association and is an active member of the Solomon Islands ICT Working Group which acts as an advisory body. In this way multi-stakeholder interests is coordinated with respect to national development priorities, allowing the greatest potential for synergies to result from collaboration, and through cross-fertilisation of ideas and best solutions.
  • The centre has been providing near full capacity with four main schools providing regular batches of students for training. However, less than 5% of students in Honiara have attended training in the centre. This is due to the lack of capacity (the centre has only 10 computers but is expecting ten extra donated computers soon - this was a 2005 report).
• People First Network
  • The People First Network (PFnet) project, itself also a project of RDVA in partnership with the Department of Provincial Government and Constituency Development, has also been pioneering the use of ICT in education. With its growing rural network, PFnet was ideally positioned to pioneer local solutions in distance education. This fact was recognised by the University of the South Pacific Centre of Honiara (USP Centre). Consequently, a project proposal was successfully submitted to the Pan Asia Networking R&D Grants scheme for 2002, administered by the Asia Media Information Centre.
  • This project is implemented by RDVA in partnership with the USP Centre, with PFnet facilitating the networking and providing technical assistance. The project aims to utilise an existing rural Internet connection provided by PFnet to pilot a distance learning facility in one of Solomon Islands’ rural community high schools.
  • The site chosen for the project was the country’s first rural community email facility, opened at Sasamungga, Choiseul, in October 2001, with the nearby Sasamungga Community High School.
  • The project entails the application of a distance-learning program especially designed to integrate with the PFnet facilities. It also contains a research component that measures awareness of ICT in the community and studies the impacts of the email station.
• Since 2004, the Education Sector Investment and Reform Programme (ESIRP) has had several initiatives involcing ICT in education:
  • The Distance Learning Centres Project (DLCP) makes use of the following:
    • A satelite terminal (VSAT) providing at each location broadband of at least 33kbps CIR bursting upwards. This is expected to increase over time.
    • A local area network with laptop computers
    • HF radio communications
    • Prepaid telephone using Voice Over IP (VOIP)
    • A physical and CD-ROM library
    • Solar power supply also supplying light to the school staff houses and classrooms
    • Permanent supervisor/trainer and facilitator
  • The Education Management Information System (EMIS) development of an e-learning strategy
    • The E-learning and distance education strategy encompasses Solomon Islands College of Higher Education, University of SOuth Pacific Honiara Extension Centre and all formal and informal learning networks using appropriate cost effective technology.

References

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For OER policies and projects in Solomon Islands see Solomon Islands/OER

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