Hundreds of teachers gathered at the TATTE Building on Wednesday to officially open its annual national conference. 

The conference will run from 20-22 January and is spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.). 

Minister of Education, Loau Keneti Sio, reflected on last year's cancelled conference due to bad weather as well as difficulties brought on by the Covid-19 global pandemic.

He said the the conference's theme of "learning today, leading tomorrow" is a timely reminder of the significance of access to education in order to counter any challenges or changes facing the world.  

Loau stressed that good leadership is key and requires everyone to work together.

“Teachers, Principals, the [Education] Ministry - educate the children so they can learn how to cope and overcome the challenges faced worldwide such as climate change and diseases like COVID-19.”

He stated that the years 2019 and 2020 were unforgettable years because of major changes as a result of communicable diseases like measles and COVID-19.

These changes led to the ministry and school inspectors utilising modern technology to deliver lessons remotely for students participating in classes from the comfort of their homes. These efforts were acknowledged in his thanks to all teachers, principals, school inspectors and the ministry.

The conference will include an induction programme for new principals, vice-principals and teachers as well as online training for selected teachers. 

Some of the presentations will also feature a retrospective analysis of the challenges, opportunities and achievements of 2019 and 2020. While participants will also be given the opportunity to share their best work with the aim of ensuring that what students learn in the classroom has application to the real world.

The Associate Minister of Women, Community and Social Development, Salausa John Ah Ching was one of the guest speakers at the event as well as the Chief Executive Officer of M.E.S.C, Afamasaga Dr. Karoline Afamasaga, whose presentation covered achievements and challenges of primary and secondary level in the national assessments. 

The abilities of teachers to use online resources will be the central focus, for the last two days of the conference, in order to help strengthen their skills and knowledge of the latest resources to make classroom learning as effective as possible.