The four day-long conference, being held at the COM-FSM Gymnasium in Palikir, Pohnpei, kicked off on Monday with an opening ceremony featuring welcoming remarks from the Governor of Pohnpei, Hon. John Ehsa and the keynote address from H.E. Alik Alik, Vice President of the FSM.
In his brief statement, Governor Ehsa welcomed the delegates from all four FSM states and our neighboring islands, and he especially welcomed the theme of the conference, which he believes is clearly highlighted in the FSM National Anthem – a theme of building bridges to close the gaps.
In his address, the Vice President Alik said: “We (are) all gathered here today to address the issue of the missing links in the writing skills of our students and teachers,” and “according to our indicators, our students are not performing at the expected levels of their grades, even those in colleges, and therefore we are being summoned again, as adults, by the reality of these issue to re-examine our education systems and also other factors that impact the learning skills of our students.”
The Vice President said the “livelihood of our nation depends largely on how we educate and prepare our young students today to tackle the challenges of life with strong determinations and ambitions and without the setback in writing skills.”
He ended his remarks saying, “President Mori and I are relying on you to discuss these issues and to make recommendations to be sent to us and to our National Congress and State leaders and all key stakeholders in order for national effort and collaboration toward resolving this significant challenge.”
In a welcome letter found in the conference program, the FSM Secretary of Education, Hon. Casiano Shoniber stated that the theme of the conference “reflects the work we must focus on such as the Bridging the Gaps Partnership Projects with COM-FSM and the states.”
He stated that this year, “we are focusing special attention on writing practices in the schools. With this focus, it is our hope that this conference will recognize and support our individuality and our unity as we work together to support each other as a community of educators. Writing is our focus for this new school (year) and will be supported by unified training, monitoring and reporting.”
