28 May 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has reported on the signing of grant agreements worth AUD4.44 million with the Government of Australia. The funds will support climate change adaptation activities, as well as an education assessment aimed at improving numeracy and literacy.

According to SPC, the Multi-Country Climate Change Adaptation Program will receive AUD1.644 million, under Australia’s International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI). Projects activities will be focused on implementing adaptation measures related to coastal fisheries, marine and freshwater resources, and integrated water and coastal resource management in Fiji, Tokelau and Tonga. The programme will focus on national training and capacity building, and on identifying and implementing on-the-ground climate change adaptation activities.

SPC further reports that education activities will focus on efforts to improve children’s literacy and numeracy through the AUD2.8 million Pacific Benchmarking Education Quality for Results (PaBER) pilot project. PaBER aims to benchmark literacy and numeracy outcomes in Year 6 students in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Samoa. The outcomes will be used to inform policy related to teacher quality, assessment systems, curriculum, materials, and school governance arrangements. [SPC Press Release]