Cook Islands Department Of National Human Resources Development

Our role:

“to strengthen and enhance the coordination and facilitation of post-secondary education and skills training in order to meet the aspirations and market-based needs of the Cook Islands"

We do this by implementing the following strategies:

Strengthen capabilities and quality - across the board there is a need to raise the quality of post-secondary education and training and key objectives to addressing these are to strengthen system capability, strategic capacity, and leadership across all sectors.

Contribute to achievement of Cook Islands Aspirations - Cook Islands aspirations will be fostered through the development of an education and training culture in the Cook Islands. A learning culture that will permeate all levels of Cook Islands society.

Raise Foundation Skills - Foundation skills are those skills that are required for people to function adequately in society. They enable people to learn and to keep on learning.

Develop skills for Cook Islands Society - The continued prosperity and well-being of the Cook Islands will depend upon the skills and knowledge of its people, and how successfully that knowledge and those skills are applied to generate economic growth and to secure improved social outcomes. There will need to be a good match between the skills developed in the formal education system and the skills required in the labour market.

Focus on Technical and Vocational Education - This will include the need to develop appropriate facilities, to locate skilled tutors, to provide appropriate resources and equipment, and to provide better opportunities for apprenticeship training so that skilled tradesmen can gain recognised qualifications. A key feature of this part of the strategy will be the need to forge partnerships with employers so that the training is driven by the needs of industry.

Outer Islands Training - the needs of the Outer Islands differ in some important respects from those of people on Rarotonga. These needs relate to the relative isolation of some of the islands, and to their much smaller populations. There is a need for people who are multi-skilled and who can provide services across a range of disciplines. There are some island-specific training needs that reflect the character of individual islands and their major industries.

Improved service delivery - A range of options are being considered as to how service delivery could be improved. These options include better alignment of education and training programmes with the overall Government vision for the Cook Islands, more effective communication of national priorities for education and training, delivery of a higher overall quality of education and training in existing programmes, improved access by target groups to a more diverse range of good quality education and training programmes (the target groups include women, those disadvantaged by special needs or isolation, school drop-outs, the young unemployed, and adults with literacy problems or skill gaps), improved effectiveness and efficiency of the post-secondary education and training systems and more responsiveness to student needs and the needs of employers, especially those in the private sector.

Collaboration with ministries, agencies, businesses, donor agencies & other stakeholders - Strong collaborative relationships and good communications networks need to exist between the Department of National Human Resources Development and all other Government Ministries, agencies and the private sector. These networks are essential in order to strengthen the training of staff in all Government Ministries, agencies and the private sector.