National University of Vanuatu releases its publication on Education, Identity and Cultures

The National University of Vanuatu (NUV) has released its publication Proceedings of the international Symposium in Vanuatu on Education, Identity and Cultures.

In May 2021, the NUV, the Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with the Vanuatu Cultural Center (VKS) jointly organized a symposium on the issues of education and culture, which intertwine custom and academia in a perspective of recognition of the identity of Vanuatu. Following the symposium, the discussions were documented. The content of those fruitful discussions can now be shared with a wider audience through the publication Education, Identity and Cultures.

These questions, which take into account the difficulty of not sacrificing parts of culture by striving to integrate them into the educational process, are regularly addressed by the Vanuatu Cultural Center, which believes that there is an urgent need to document/preserve/value traditional knowledge and practices that sometimes tend to disappear. As Pacific nations continue to develop, it is imperative that traditional knowledge and cultural heritage be taught in schools as a means to adapt to the natural and social environment. How can we ensure that education includes traditional knowledge? How can the cultural richness of Vanuatu be used to promote success in school and enable more young Vanuatu people to go on to university? These are the main lines of approach to understand these notions which cover several disciplinary fields, such as anthropology, history, archaeology, educational sciences but also language sciences.

The Vice-Chancellor and President of the NUV, Mr. Jean-Pierre Nirua, said “The National University of Vanuatu has undertaken to set up a research pole. The research pole is a founding element of the university as stated in the NUV Strategic Plan 2021-2030 and we are committed to engage research activities through the organization of seminars and symposia bringing together researchers from universities in the Pacific region in particular. The National University of Vanuatu is delighted to share this first publication on Education, Identity and Cultures and we are looking forward to more publications. The University would like to acknowledge the financial support of its key partners in this event, the French Embassy through the Pacific Fund and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie. The NUV also acknowledges with gratitude the support and contributions of partners and researchers whose work has made of this publication a success”.

The publication Proceedings of the international Symposium in Vanuatu on Education, Identity and Cultures will be available for sale in a paper version at the NUV and the Vanuatu Cultural Center in a few weeks.

The development of the NUV is aligned with Vanuatu People’s Plan and the Vanuatu Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan. The focus of education and training under the NUV and associated institutions are based on the priorities of the country’s National Human Resource Development Plan 2020-2030 (NHRDP).