Lessons & Insights

Young Samoans Share Their Dreams, Challenges, and What They Need to Succeed

Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

In March 2025, the Oloamanu Centre for Professional Development and Continuing Education at the National University of Samoa (NUS) engaged with youth across Upolu and Savaii to better understand their skills, aspirations, and the challenges they face in accessing training and employment opportunities. Through online surveys, focus group discussions, and a heartfelt activity called My […]

Young Samoans Share Their Dreams, Challenges, and What They Need to Succeed Read More »

Building Confidence and Reaching Communities: Henjo’s Journey with the TVET Toolkit

Building Resilience, Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

“When I joined Ituani in 2019, I had no background in training or management,” says Henjo, a member of the management team at Ituani Vocational Training Centre in Vanuatu. “Everything was new to me — how to lead a team, how to develop training systems. I didn’t know where to begin.” That same year, Ituani

Building Confidence and Reaching Communities: Henjo’s Journey with the TVET Toolkit Read More »

Solomon Islands Launches Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report

Lessons & Insights

The President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Professor Peter Scott, was joined by the Honourable Mr Tozen Leokana, Minister for Education, Solomon Islands; Dr Franco Rodie, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, Solomon Islands; and Mr Jonathan Andrew Curr, High Commissioner of New Zealand to the Solomon

Solomon Islands Launches Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report Read More »

Samoana Animations: Preserving Samoan Storytelling in the Digital Age

Building Resilience, Lessons & Insights

“Every story begins with a mother’s love.” The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is pleased to support the Samoana Animations project, a cultural resilience initiative in Samoa. Developed in partnership with Pacific Kids Learning (PKL), this is designed to digitise traditional village stories while preserving the rich oral storytelling traditions that connect Samoan mothers and daughters

Samoana Animations: Preserving Samoan Storytelling in the Digital Age Read More »

Educators participating in the digital training

Women and youth gain digital literacy and leadership skills in Tonga

Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

Tonga Women in ICT, in collaboration with COL and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand, has been actively working to enhance digital literacy and ICT skills among women and youth in Tonga. From April to September 2024, TWICT organised a series of training sessions at the TWICT Hub focusing on

Women and youth gain digital literacy and leadership skills in Tonga Read More »

Participant with their certificate of completion

Empowering Vanuatu’s Youth: V-Lab and COL Partnership Success

Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

Through the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand, COL recently collaborated with V-Lab – Vanuatu’s first business, idea, and organization incubator – leading to a significant achievement in the Pacific nation’s journey towards enhanced job readiness. To date, a total of 417 youths, including young women and persons with disabilities,

Empowering Vanuatu’s Youth: V-Lab and COL Partnership Success Read More »

AWEST graduands with their certificates

Celebrating Skill Development for Empowerment in Jimi District, Papua New Guinea

Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

Skill development in Jimi District in Jiwaka Province marked a milestone with the graduation of learners from the Early Childhood Education and Basic Accounting training programme. This activity facilitated by COL and supported by a grant from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reflects our shared commitment to strengthening local capacity and

Celebrating Skill Development for Empowerment in Jimi District, Papua New Guinea Read More »

Empowering Visually Impaired Learners in Solomon Islands: Graduation Marks a Milestone in Inclusive Education

Building Resilience, Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

In a significant step towards fostering inclusivity and independence, thirty blind and visually impaired individuals graduated earlier this month from the “Taep fo Laef” and literacy programmes in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The training programmes, led by the Blind and Vision Impaired Persons Support Initiative (BVIPSI) with support from COL, focused on equipping visually impaired persons with essential

Empowering Visually Impaired Learners in Solomon Islands: Graduation Marks a Milestone in Inclusive Education Read More »

Pacific small states workshop on resilience in skills development for women

Lessons & Insights, Youth Employment

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) recently held a three-day regional workshop on Women, Skills and Resilient Livelihoods in the Small States of the Pacific in Nadi, Fiji. The event brought together 25 participants from nine countries – Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon

Pacific small states workshop on resilience in skills development for women Read More »