Photo: A Year 8 student of Dilkusha Boys School and a Year 6 student of Dilkusha Girls School listening to the Literacy and Numeracy radio broadcastsThe Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (Climate Partnership) is working alongside Pacific partners to ensure that climate and disaster resilience is integrated across all sectors of Australia’s aid program, including education. This postcard highlights some of the Climate Partnership’s support to Fiji’s education sector since 2018.
During 2019-2020, the Climate Partnership undertook audits across 9 Pacific Island Countries (including Fiji) to understand the drivers for climate skills in the short to medium term, the reasons for qualified Pacific Islanders for accessing more climate change employment opportunities, and what was needed through short and medium-terms skills building mechanisms to increase Pacific Islanders' capacity to secure climate change-related employment.
In the area of scholarships and skills development, the Climate Partnership provided climate and disaster resilience inputs to DFAT Suva Post’s Alumni Engagement Strategy and APTC’s Strategic Framework for Skills for Climate Change and Disaster Resilience.
The Climate Partnership partners with Fiji's Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts through Australia’s Fiji Program Support Facility. In 2019, the Climate Partnership reviewed the Ministry of Education’s WASH in Schools Policy and, in 2021, provided inputs to their Special and Inclusive Education Policy.
In collaboration with Australia's Fiji Program Support Facility and the Ministry of Education, the Climate Partnership distributed climate readers to 98 schools, mostly remote schools across the four divisions in Fiji in 2023 (29 in Western, 16 in Eastern, 29 in Northern, and 24 in Central).
With support from the Fiji Program Support Facility, the Ministry of Education and GIZ's Accelerating Climate Education for the Pacific (ACE) Program, an innovative learning program based on daily radio broadcasts, podcasts and animated videos around climate change and disaster concepts was implemented for primary school students during the COVID-19 lockdown. The virtual learning program proved to be very useful with 91% of the students who were surveyed stating the content was clear and that they would recommend the lessons to teachers in their districts.
A mapping exercise was also undertaken to identify gaps in the knowledge of climate change and disaster risk reduction within Fiji's school curriculum. The Climate Partnership then provided support for integrating climate and disaster resilience concepts into the Years 9-10 English and Mathematics curriculum, which included teacher guides, readers, posters, and literacy and numeracy booster kits. The updated curriculum is planned for roll out in 2024.
The Climate Partnership has been supporting the Fiji Program Support Facility to enhance integration of climate and disaster resilience across its sectoral programs. For example, the Climate Partnership reviewed the Fiji Education Program’s 2018-19 and 2022-23 workplans to ensure integration of climate and resilience markers and is currently reviewing the Facility's new design for a bilateral education program.