The European Union has agreed to provide over 9 million US dollars to fund a basic education project covering the 14 Pacific Island countries who are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement between the Eu and the African, Pacific and Caribbean group.
The decision has been welcomed by the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Noel Levi, who is also the Regional Authorising Officer for European Development Fund multilateral assistance to the region.
Mr Levi says the uneven quality of education in the region is a serious concern and too many young people are leaving school without adequate skills to further their education of find a job.
He says the EU-funded project aims to improve the quality of basic education in the region by encouraging better planning and delivery of education.
The project is titled the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education or PRIDE.
NZAID has also contributed over 3 million US dollars to PRIDE which will be implemented by the regional centres of the University of the South Pacific.
The financing agreement will be signed in early 2004 with the funding to run for five years.
