Partner since:
Total grant support: US$23,032,469
Grant eligibility:
Partnership Compact
Priority: Improve literacy in early childhood education and primary schools, and numeracy in secondary schools, with a focus on male students, boys and girls from poorer households and children with disabilities.
Coordinating agency: Australia High Commission - Tonga
GPE Team lead: Daisuke Kanazawa
Tonga’s participation in the Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment 2021 revealed that only 38% of boys and 56% of girls in year 4 meet the minimum reading proficiency standard. The 2021 national secondary examination for math had a pass rate of 17%.
Tonga is working with GPE and other partners to improve literacy at the early childhood and primary education levels and numeracy at the secondary level, with a focus on improving learning for boys, children from poorer families and children with disabilities.
Tonga’s Partnership Compact explains that this priority reform aligns with national development strategies and encourages a foundation for lifelong learning that will help Tongans contribute to the economy.
To give students a strong start, Tonga will increase enrollment in early childhood education and improve the skills and content knowledge of early childhood and primary teachers. Increasing inclusive curriculum materials, especially for reading in Tongan, aims to enhance students' literacy skills.
At the secondary level, scholarships, extracurricular activities, parent and community engagement, and more qualified male teachers are expected to boost enrollment and reduce gender disparities in access and learning.
To improve students’ numeracy skills, teacher training and curriculum improvements will focus on math.
out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age
of children start learning one year before entering primary school
of primary teachers have the minimum required qualifications
of government expenditure on education
(data as of November 17, 2024)
Type: Multiplier
Years: 2024 - 2028
Allocation: US$5,000,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: WB
Type: System capacity
Years: 2024 - 2026
Allocation: US$260,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: Save the Children Australia
Type: Program development
Years: 2024
Allocation: US$200,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: Save the Children Australia
Type: System capacity
Years: 2023 - 2025
Allocation: US$40,000
Utilization: US$18,557
Grant agent: Save the Children Australia
Type: System capacity
Years: 2022 - 2025
Allocation: US$700,000
Utilization: US$536,314
Grant agent: Save the Children Australia
Type: Program implementation
Years: 2021 - 2025
Allocation: US$14,997,510
Utilization: US$3,073,318
Grant agent: ADB
This is a regional grant covering the Pacific region.
