Ministry of Education GOVERNMENT OF THE COOK ISLANDS STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE TEINA BISHOP MINISTER OF EDUCATION

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1 Ministry of Education GOVERNMENT OF THE COOK ISLANDS STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE TEINA BISHOP MINISTER OF EDUCATION General Conference of UNESCO Paris, France October 2013

2 Chair, Excellencies, distinguished representatives, ladies and gentlemen: may I bid you, in my indigenous language, Kia Orana, which literally means may you live on. The Cook Islands has maintained its status as an Upper Middle Income Country with the OECD since the mid 1990 s. Given the external global economic shocks, and the significant number of cyclones our country has faced over this time, this is no small feat for a country with a resident population of only 14,000 people, spread over 15 islands and more than 2 million square kilometres of ocean. However, sustaining our economy on its own will not deliver continuing improvements to the quality of life for the people of the Cook Islands. Throughout the development of the Cook Islands economy, Government has paid particular consideration to social development and social inclusion to protect the quality of life of its inhabitants. This social investment has created opportunities and a virtuous circle grounded on our people, their families and their communities. By promoting social investment, our people have been able to fulfil their potential, prosper and participate in the social, economic, political and CONFIDENTIAL: MINISTER TEINA BISHOP, UNESCO GC, 2013 Page 2

3 cultural life of our nation. These investments are driven by our national priorities. Ensuring education is of high quality and relevant to the lives of young people, creates challenges in our country. The ability to provide programmes for students on ten inhabited islands spread over 2 million square kilometres of ocean, and the ability to meet the needs and interests of all students, requires new ways of thinking about resourcing and providing access to education. We recognise the opportunities of the digital revolution for education and the connectivity, particularly of our young people. Current initiatives include: - Broadband connections to every school; - The provision of netbooks to every teacher; - The launching of our e-school in 2014 where small numbers of students can join others in virtual classrooms; - The integration of ipads, netbooks and other technology into classrooms to expand students learning; - The provision of specialist technologies to students with special learning needs; and CONFIDENTIAL: MINISTER TEINA BISHOP, UNESCO GC, 2013 Page 3

4 - Building public private partnerships to improve access for those in the community to the internet. - Strengthening our TVET programmes; - Building second chance training opportunities; and - Providing easily accessible pastoral care through counselling and careers advisory services. Our national vision is for a society where all live with dignity, enjoy their human rights, achieve their full potential and contribute to the development and wellbeing of society. This means that women and girls have equal access to, and benefit from, the development of the country and are protected from all forms of discrimination and violence. Gender responsiveness and creating environments in which women feel empowered to participate in decision making and governance, will enable women to fully participate in the economic and social development of the Cook Islands. We have more women at senior levels of the public service with over a third of our government ministries being led by women, and many more holding senior management positions within these agencies. Our speaker of Parliament is a woman and CONFIDENTIAL: MINISTER TEINA BISHOP, UNESCO GC, 2013 Page 4

5 women also play a particularly strong role in leading non-government organisations. We have achieved the millennium development goals around maternal health and offer many other programmes that encourage women to take ownership of their health care. We believe that these commitments by our Government support the UNESCO global priority of Gender Equality Our commitments also support the UNESCO overarching objective of a focus on the needs and aspirations of youth and their role as the next generation of change makers in our development. In this global society in which we now live, the Cook Islands cannot do this in isolation. The impact of external shocks on such a small country, whether by natural events or the influence of economic or political decisions elsewhere, challenges our resilience. Our Government stands committed to the vision of UNESCO and the objectives of its medium term strategy. We actively welcome a post-2015 agenda which we can use to build on our strengths and address CONFIDENTIAL: MINISTER TEINA BISHOP, UNESCO GC, 2013 Page 5

6 our weaknesses. We accept the challenges such a commitment makes on our country and will do our part to be a responsible participant. Within the Pacific region, we know each other well. We understand the impact the decision of one country can have on the political and financial environment of our neighbours and the livelihoods of those in the region. In conclusion, the challenge to UNESCO will be to build such an understanding across all countries so that, whilst we maintain our individual sovereignty, we work together to meet global goals in a way that is equitable, empowering and sustainable for the wellbeing of all and particularly our next generation. Kia orana e kia manuia CONFIDENTIAL: MINISTER TEINA BISHOP, UNESCO GC, 2013 Page 6