Solomon Islands is a small state of the Commonwealth consisting of nearly 1,000 islands with a population of about 580,000. It faces significant development and educational challenges and is a major focus of the New Zealand Aid Programme support. The University of the South Pacific has a campus on the Solomon Islands.

 

School-age Population by Education Level1

100,500

 

52,974

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20121

47%

 

50%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education1

n/a

 

n/a

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

32.6%

 

n/a

Secondary (2015)

 

Tertiary

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in June 2021

 

Literacy rate (1999)1

69%

 

83.7%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

80%

 

53%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

2%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

70

 

67

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

1.1 73.8
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
0.2 17.5
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
7.3 11.9
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

COL’s current work in Solomon Islands is primarily in the areas of gender, technical and vocational skills development, and tertiary education through the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth. Solomon Islands benefits from the activities of the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development. Learners from Solomon Islands have also benefited from COL’s open online courses and other resources.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL's partners in Solomon Islands include: 

  • Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development
  • Solomon Islands National University
  • USP Solomon Islands Campus