The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), in partnership with the Youth Council, the Australian Government through DFAT, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), has officially launched a new Social Citizenship Education Policy Handbook.

The launch took place on Friday, 16 January 2026, marking a key step toward strengthening social citizenship education across schools in Vanuatu.

From a press release it states that the handbook reinforces a shared commitment to developing informed, engaged, and responsible citizens by embedding social citizenship values into the education system. It places strong emphasis on active citizenship, social responsibility, inclusion, respect, and community participation.

MoET says the handbook recognises education as more than academic achievement, highlighting its role in shaping learners’ values, identity, and civic responsibility. Social citizenship education is seen as an important tool to empower students to understand their rights and responsibilities, think critically about social issues, and actively participate in their communities.

The Ministry also stressed that advancing strong citizenship education requires collaboration and shared ownership. Partnerships between government, development partners, and communities are considered essential to ensuring education policies and programmes reflect national values and priorities.

MoET acknowledged the support of all partners involved in developing and launching the handbook and reaffirmed its commitment to embedding social citizenship values across education policies, curricula, and programmes nationwide.

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