28 January 2004 Media Statement

Pacific education ministers meet

Associate Education Minister Marian Hobbs leaves tomorrow to attend the third
meeting of Pacific Forum Education Ministers in Apia Samoa. She will also represent New Zealand at the funeral of Samoa's Justice Minister, Seumanu Aita Ah Wa, who died in Auckland on January 22.

Marian Hobbs said the education ministers will review the implementation of the Forum's Basic Education Action Plan, agreed in 2001.

"We'll also be reviewing the 'Education for All' initiatives across the region with UNESCO's Director General Koichiro Matsuura." Marian Hobbs sadded. "These arose from the world conference on education in Thailand in 1990 and the subsequent world education forum in Dakar in 2000.

"In sharing experiences, the meeting also provides an opportunity to consider ideas which might be useful for our own Pasifika community."

As Aid Minister Marian Hobbs intends to visit projects funded by NZAID in Samoa and view the impact of Cyclone Heta.

The minister returns on Sunday.

ENDS

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