On 5 March 2025, New Zealand’s Wellington National Library hosted the National launch of the two most recent reports: one on Global Educational Leadership and the second on Technology in Pacific Education, jointly authored by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).

Opening the event, supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the Chair of the UNESCO National Commission, Liz Longworth, welcomed the Minister of Education, the Honourable Erica Stanford, to keynote the launch. Reflecting upon the recently released 2024/5 ‘GEM report: Leadership in education: lead for learning’, the Minister highlighted the essential role of school principals worldwide and the need to better support school leaders to be more effective in the New Zealand context. New Zealand Education Commissioner, Professor Gail Gillon, spoke to the challenges facing educators that the reports examined.

In speaking to the work of both reports, Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report UNESCO, outlined the findings, outcomes and recommendations of the two reports. In the Pacific, for instance, we note that geographic dispersion is a huge challenge for education engagement, but technology helps bridge gaps. Furthermore, technology has reduced connectivity costs, expanding learning, especially in higher education. In one example, the University of the South Pacific connects campuses via satellite, while social media and multimodal approaches enhance resilience. However, the digital impact remains uneven. While technology improves access and quality, it also requires much more investment in infrastructure, adaptation, and pedagogy.

In his closing remarks, Professor Peter Scott, President and CEO of COL, as joint publisher of the Pacific report, asked the audience to look at the significant steps that have been taken, supported by MFAT in concert with the wider family of all Pacific nations working together, “Critically reflecting on the impact of the work we do is vital to long-term success, so independent reporting from teams such as UNESCO Global Education Monitoring offers insights into what is working and what needs more attention”.

Professor Scott went on to say, “While chronic learning inequality is proving resistant to change, year-on-year, we can see in the Pacific report  great potential for big impact and even for this work to be a model for others.”

Image Caption: (L-R: Professor Peter Scott, President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning; Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report; Professor Gail Gillon, University of Canterbury and New Zealand Education Commissioner; Liz Longworth, Chair UNESCO New Zealand National Commission; and the Honourable Erica Stanford, Minister of Education, New Zealand).