 President Mori delivers keynote address at Chuuk Education Symposium, 2011Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): August 15, 2011 - President Mori re-affirmed his commitment to education reform in Chuuk by delivering the keynote address at the opening of the annual Chuuk Education Symposium on Monday August 8th. The Chuuk High School gym was full to capacity for the opening ceremony, with teachers, principals and education officials from the Chuuk Department of Education, as well as a team of trainers from the National Department of Education, in attendance. Speakers included Congressman Wesley Simina, Honorable Mark Milo, President of Chuuk Senate, Honorable Johnson Elimo, Acting Governor, and Mr John Sony, representative of the Mayor of Weno Municipality and someone from OIA. Addressing the theme of the symposium, "Working Together, Hand in Hand, for Chuuk Tomorrow", President Mori challenged the Chuuk leadership, Department of Education and communities of Chuuk to work together to support education reform in Chuuk. He said it was time for the education system to quickly improve its ranking from 4th place to at least 3rd place but the ultimate goal is to work hard toward achieving the 1st place putting an end to the stereotypical image of poor quality and low achievement in Chuuk. "Education of our children is too important to be left with Government to manage. It has to be a community based approach where the mayors, village chiefs, the churches and most especially parents must be involved. It is the only way the reform can work effectively." In support of the Director, Ms Gardenia Aisek and her management team, the President acknowledged that hard decisions had to be made if the reform plan was to be successful and meet the challenging demands in Chuuk. He urged that attitudes towards education had to change so that principals and teachers were held accountable by school communities in providing quality education. He also recognized that systemic changes were needed to tackle issues such as land ownership disputes that have prevented investments in school infrastructure. A wide range of workshops on education improvement, curriculum, and assessment, as well as sessions on nutrition, community participation and special education, were conducted by the Chuuk Department of Education. One particularly well attended session, conducted by Mr. Joe Eas, dealt with community participation in turning around low performance schools, demonstrating the commitment of the participants towards meeting the challenges set forth by the President. In addition, a panel of senior managers and specialists conducted a question and answer session on the challenges by His Excellency President Manny Mori and questions to the Education Reform Plan. For more information, please contact the National Department of Education at 320-2609 or the Chuuk State Department of Education at 330-2475. |