In July 2009, an ADB consultant, along with a staff from the Office of Statistics, Budget, Overseas Development Assistance and Compact Management, started consultations with various departments and agencies at the national government and with Pohnpei and Chuuk state governments.
Recently, the Asian Development Bank agreed to modify another on-going Technical Assistance No. 41579 in order to provide greater focus on improving the Chuuk state school system within the scope of improving education in the FSM as a whole.
This is designed to improve delivery of state-level public services through enhancing performance oriented to public sector operations.
The technical assistance will be piloted in Chuuk during phase 1 and rolled out to the other states in phase 2. This project will integrate a community-based approach to ensure success and ensure that the affected communities are taking full ownership of the process.
This change in the technical assistance is a direct result from a meeting that President Manny Mori had with ADB, which agreed to undertake a study of the Chuuk state school system.
This technical assistance resulted in a hard hitting comprehensive report prepared by a fielded consultant who provided an overview of education problems in Chuuk and suggested short-term and long-term strategies for reforming the Chuuk
Department of Education, thereby improving overall educational performance across the state.
The amended technical assistance and the report by the ADB consultant are in line with JEMCO Resolution 2009-5 relating to the 2010 budget, which endorsed the creation of a “multi-agency task force made up of SBOC, Chuuk DOE, National DOE, and the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs and the U.S. Education Department. This task force will provide monitoring and technical assistance to the Chuuk Department of Education using the Chuuk State Department of Education’s 2005 Reform Plan as the baseline for determining additional necessary interventions.” The ADB report will strongly supplement the 2005 Reform Plan and serve as an additional and updated foundation for a comprehensive effort to improve education in Chuuk.
