Wale highlights free education as key transformative agenda at UNGA

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Prime Minister Matthew Wale has highlighted his Government’s flagship free education policy as one of its key transformative agendas during his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Speaking at the UN overnight, Mr Wale said the Government was committed to ensuring that every child in Solomon Islands had access to education, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

“We are providing universal free education, so that no child is turned away from school because their family cannot afford the fees,” Mr Wale said.

He said the free education policy was part of a broader reform agenda aimed at improving the lives of Solomon Islanders and transforming the country’s development.

Mr Wale said the Government was also strengthening the national health system, with a renewed focus on addressing non-communicable diseases, eradicating malaria and building a new national referral hospital.

“We are prioritizing energy and other transformative infrastructure, expanding roads, ports, airports and telecommunications to connect our scattered islands into one national economy,” he said.

He said the Government was also reforming public finance systems to ensure public funds delivered tangible benefits to citizens.

“We are reforming our public finance systems so that every dollar delivers for our people. And we are pursuing constitutional amendments to strengthen our democracy,” Mr Wale said.

“This is the agenda by which our people will judge my government.”

Mr Wale said the Government understood that its performance would ultimately be measured by results on the ground rather than declarations made at international forums.

“For my people, what is said in this hall is measured not in declarations but in results: classrooms with teachers and books, clinics with medicines, roads that reach markets, and villages that thrive,” he said.

“That is the lens through which Solomon Islands engages with the world.