Culture and resilience key to strengthening Pacific education

Thursday, 16 Apr 2026

The Pacific region faces some of the world’s most acute and interconnected challenges. Increasingly frequent natural disasters, climate change, geographic isolation, and patterns of migration place sustained pressure on education systems, making resilience essential to maintaining learning continuity and supporting long‑term development across the region. 

Within this context, the GPE KIX Observatory on Education System Resilience brings together the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Pacific Community to support education systems to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to disruption. As part of 6 regional observatories, the Pacific Observatory is developing a practical, Pacific‑grounded framework for education system resilience informed by those working across schools, ministries and communities. 

As part of this work, the Pacific Observatory conducted 73 interviews across 4 Pacific countries – Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Participants included teachers, school leaders and system‑level stakeholders. Five key themes emerged from the research, aligned closely with the Observatory’s research questions and focus on strengthening education system resilience in practice. 

Across all contexts, resilience was described as culturally embedded rather than externally imposed. Indigenous ways of knowing, communal identity and deeply relational systems shape how communities respond to disruption. Concepts such as kāinga, vanua, lotu and kastom frame resilience as holistic and relational, emphasising continuity across generations rather than simply ‘bouncing back’ after disruption. 

Another key theme emerging from the research was the conceptualisation of resilience as capacity building. Stakeholders consistently emphasised empowering educators with the skills, tools, and confidence to manage uncertainty.   

Managing future disruptions is closely linked to training and preparedness. Participants highlighted disaster‑focused professional learning for educators and students, as well as the importance of involving students in preparedness efforts.  

‘We think about how we can train children how to prepare before flooding or earthquakes,’ explained one school leader in the Solomon Islands.  

A third theme centred on anticipated future disruptions, overwhelmingly shaped by climate change. Stakeholders identified heavy rain and flooding as recurring challenges that prevent students from reaching school and frequently force early release or temporary closures. Blocked roads, limited transport access, and long walking distances further compound these challenges, particularly in remote areas.  

Stakeholders also highlighted teaching practices that strengthen education system resilience. Educators across the Pacific are implementing locally grounded initiatives aligned with cultural values and community priorities, including green school projects, mangrove and tree planting initiatives, and WASH programs that support environmental resilience and place‑based learning. 

One teacher from Tonga provided an example of a classroom project on teaching practices to enhance system resilience: 

‘They had a project with the Ministry of Agriculture to plant a million mangroves. So, people from the Ministry came to our principal and asked for the children to help plant mangroves along the beach. Now there are so many plants here.’ 

Information resilience through Education Technology was also critical to sustaining learning during disruption. Blended and low-tech approaches enabled continuity despite uneven connectivity.  

‘For the first month… we used Facebook Messenger… then we created Google Classroom. Even after Covid we still practice Google Classroom… in case anything happens in the future,’ explained a teacher from the Federated States of Micronesia. 

System‑level and school‑level innovations are helping to maintain learning continuity during disruption. In FSM, some teachers are creating online textbooks and testing so students can log in from home during a disaster. 

Strong partnerships also play a critical role in enabling these efforts. Disaster preparedness and planning frequently rely on collaboration across government agencies, faith-based organisations, and development partners.  

The research was shared recently at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference in San Francisco. ACER’s Dr Elizabeth Cassity and Krishneel Reddy from the Pacific Community joined a panel with GPE KIX Observatory colleagues working on system resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean, and South and Southeast Asia. Discussants included Moira Faul, Executive Director and Senior Lecturer Geneva Graduate Institute, NORRAG and Iveta Silova, Professor and Associate Dean, Arizona State University, with Laurence Uwera, International Development Research Centre, as Chair.  

The emerging insights demonstrate that education system resilience in the Pacific is not a single intervention, but dynamic and inter-related. Grounded in Pacific voices, this analysis will guide the Observatory’s development of practical resources to strengthen education system resilience across the region.