Solomon Islands

This chapter looks at the governance and delivery of primary education in the Solomon Islands. It outlines the historical developments of the education system and highlights features of the current system. Research methodology and basic data on primary schools, teachers, grants, revenue and how these are calculated, disbursed, acquitted and replenished are also discussed. More importantly, the chapter made some assessment of policy matters against what actually happens on the ground. Key issues and findings are delineated and recommendations made to improve governance and delivery of primary education services in the country. Solomon Islands has 523 primary schools and this research only covered a small proportion of these schools as explained in the methodology section. This chapter nevertheless provides details on the country’s profile, population, economic indicators, primary school enrolments, children’s access to primary schools and statistics relating to gender in education. The structures of the education system since the 1970s, including types of schools are provided as background information. The research used a qualitative methodology including methods such as face to face interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations. By concentrating on four specific schools, it is hoped that insights into what the policies say and the actual experiences of stakeholders on the ground are determined