At the high-level Symposium side event of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in the Solomons, Manu Folau (Vice Chancellor) of Pasifika Communities University Rev, Professor Upolu together with Vice Chancellor of the Solomon Islands National University Professor Transform Aqorau shares about the theme: “Netweaving the soul of Pacific Development”.
Professor Upolu says that with the Western countries are beginning to admit that their dominant development models—centred on GDP growth, market liberalization, and extractive economics—are failing. The crises of climate change, inequality, and social fragmentation are evidence that development built purely on profit and endless growth is unsustainable.
Yet, in the Pacific, rather than critically assessing these failures and crafting our own paths, we too often adopt the very same political and economic philosophies that are proving inadequate elsewhere. The emphasis on GDP as the ultimate measure of progress has led to policies that privilege short-term economic gains over long-term community resilience, cultural integrity, and ecological balance.
At the heart of this challenge lies education. Education is not neutral—it shapes how we think, what we value, and how we imagine the future. Currently, our education systems in the Pacific remain largely shaped by Western philosophies and frameworks. They produce citizens trained to fit into global markets, but often disconnected from their own cultural heritage, land, and communal values. This kind of education perpetuates dependence on foreign models rather than cultivating indigenous knowledge systems, critical thinking, and locally grounded leadership that can build new structures of development.
If development is to change—if it is to move away from the obsession with GDP toward a model that prioritizes people, land, and community—then education must be reimagined. We need an education system that empowers Pacific people to critically question imported ideas, to draw on their ancestral wisdom, and to innovate solutions that fit their own contexts.
This high-level symposium will be on Friday 1.30pm at the Aquatic centre, Sports City Complex, Honiara. See you there.
