Excellencies and distinguished representatives - I bid you a warm Kia Orana from the Cook Islands.
It is a pleasure to be able to address you all virtually.
Let me first take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt congratulations to UNESCO and the SIDS Group for hosting this second dialogue on such a level and with the primary focus on small island developing states.
I must also commend you for staying true to the theme of transforming education in the digital age by approaching such an important dialogue via hybrid means ensuring that all SIDS can participate equally and in a meaningful way.
I do not need to convince anyone this morning that digital technologies have proven to be crucial in building inclusive knowledge societies, nor do I need to convince anyone of how COVID-19 highlighted the role digital technologies have played in responding to this crisis and in building our collective resilience.
For all of us the concept of transformation is not new. We have transformed before and we will certainly transform again. The same can be said when considering digital technologies. What the COVID-19 crisis did very well was provide countries with an enabling environment but at the same time accentuate the digital and knowledge divide raising concerns for equity between and within countries.
Digital transformation for quality education outcomes is also not new, and for many of us here today we have explored a variety of digital approaches and pedagogies to increase access for all our learners, and to support one of our most valued workforce, our teachers and education practitioners.
Ensuring education is high quality and relevant to the lives of young people, does create challenges and opportunities in the Cook Islands. The ability to sustain a scope of programmes for small and often geographically isolated cohorts, and the ability to meet the needs and interests of all learners, requires new ways of thinking about resourcing and providing access to education.
The Cook Islands started investing in the power of digital technologies in education well over a decade ago, and notably as a way to meet the needs of our learners in our most remote islands.
This was achieved by establishing quality distance education programmes online. Firstly, designed to fill the gaps in programmes with the absence of specialised teachers, then moving into full delivery utilising a mix of on and offline activities and capabilities to connect with teachers in other islands and with students across schools, by way of a virtual classroom.
Such opportunities were not limited to the compulsory education sector. Our national TVET provider for many years has capitalised on blended modalities to deliver technical and trades based learning opportunities in remote islands, while still maintaining connections with our main campuses based on Rarotonga. Additionally, our Pacific SIDS colleagues will also acknowledge the work of our Pacific owned regional university, the University of the South Pacific, and the institutes commitment to online delivery of lectures, tutorials and tertiary level engagement.
With that being said, the Cook Islands have never shied away from these experiences especially if they can virtually connect and engage with our 15 islands that are geographically spread out.
Our journey through the digital age has been met with equal parts opportunity and challenge. Learning has become more assessable, the advancement of technologies has become more user friendly, and continuity of learning guaranteed – this even more so during the crisis of COVID-19.
Albeit, the Cook Islands have not had to face the same challenges that the pandemic brought to the Pacific region. I acknowledge just how devastating it has been for the SIDS Group during this crisis but realise just how lucky the Cook Islands are that we have not been in that same position. I am immensely proud that we were able to keep our schools and providers safely open during this time.
Having first reported COVID-19 in the Cook Islands in February 2022, we have not had to experience a safe return to school but rather our focus has been on safe retention in school and continuity of learning and wellbeing for our communities.
But – we have experienced some harsh realities despite our opportunities. Our learners didn’t miss out on a lot of school, and so our focus was to ensure any potential loss remained minimal and supported with an offline option.
When establishing home-based learning strategies, naturally there was an assumption we could effectively activate online learning at all levels. While all schools and providers have access to unlimited data and devices while at school, the same can’t be said for their ITC experiences at home, and we quickly learnt that this would not be a strategy that would meet all our learners needs.
For the large majority of our learners at home, access to connectivity and devices is most commonly mum or dad’s cellphone, and while we recognize this approach was implemented by many countries very successfully, the use of mobiles as a home-based learning approach had limitations for the Cook Islands.
To prepare for this, majority of home-based learning strategies for students who were impacted by COVID-19, either through isolation or quarantine, were provided paper-based or hardcopy learning material. I acknowledge that this approach can be viewed as outdated or cumbersome, but it was achievable when considering our small numbers.
What we do know is that increased technologies and the digital age does not replace the importance of having a teacher, tutor or lecturer in front of our learners, engaging face to face, and providing a supportive space for academic excellence as well as pastoral care.
Digital technologies do give our learners another tool to experience success, and a great tool for some, but not for all. The almost ironic realities of these advancements have actually resulted in an increase of inequities even though we’re using the same technologies to decrease these inequities.
But not all is lost – safeguarding continuity and strengthening learning systems through a digital lens should be empowering for our SIDS group. The digital transformation of education allows for increasing opportunities to build strong public/private partnerships, increasing investment in infrastructure and access to affordable devices and connectivity. This means a high level of mutual accountability and making decisions together that are informed by evidence.
In closing, I truly believe that these opportunities, should they be transformed into commitments by SIDS governments, will allow countries to leverage digital technologies to not only respond to recovery and rebuilding efforts, but continue to ensure the education sector is well resourced and confident to incorporate and utilise new advances.
My government remains committed to being a collaborative member of the highly prestigious SIDS group and we actively welcome the development of a Digital Strategy to advance connectivity, capacity building and service provision. We accept the challenge that this presents and will do our part to continue to advocate for the highly regarded position of SIDS in transformation.
I wish you well for the remainder of this Dialogue and for the exciting opportunities to come for SIDS in the very near future.
Kia Orana e Kia Manuia.