Last year we asked you what you thought of our education system and where we could make changes for the benefit of Pacific learners. We want to express our gratitude to all of you who shared your ideas and opinions either face-to-face at one of the 27 fono we held nationwide or through our online survey.

What you shared with us is guiding the work of the Ministry of Education. To read about some of the announcements for Pacific learners and their families from the latest budget, go here. We will share more details about some of the education funding at our next fono (read on for more!).

We know there is still a lot of work to make sure the education system is working for all Pacific learners and families. This is why Minister Salesa is committed to using your experiences to shape the wider work in education, and to changing the way the Ministry works with Pacific families and communities.

To start working differently and reciprocally, we want to come back and collaborate with you to design the next Action Plan for Pacific Education. This will build off all you shared with us last year and make sure we’re capturing what you shared with us. The Ministry of Education will be holding a series of fono from 26 August to 4 October across the country to ask:

o Have we honoured and valued your voices in our proposed vision for Pacific education and the changes we need to see to get there

o What do you think about the actions the Ministry is taking to make change for Pacific learners and families?

o How do we know that we are making progress Wellington learning support & disability fono @ Mungavin Hall on Wednesday 25 September at 6pm

Porirua Tokelau fono @  Whitireia  on Thursday 26th September  at 6pm