PSS, NMC partner up for international education conference

The Public School System, the Northern Marianas College, and Research Triangle Institute International have partnered up to host the 40th Pacific Circle Consortium for the first time in the CNMI. The partnership will promote economic development and improve the lives and education of the community.

The Public School System, the Northern Marianas College, and Research Triangle Institute International partner up to host the 40th Pacific Circle Consortium for the first time in the CNMI. (Daisy Demapan)

“This will be the first time that the Pacific Circle Consortium Conference will be held in the northern Pacific,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan. “This will also be the 40th anniversary of the conference, [which] elevates the historic significance of the event even more.”

The PCC was first established in 1977 as an initiative in international cooperation between educational research and development institutions in the Pacific region, initially drawn from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Today, the consortium is independent of the OECD and is an innovative research and curriculum development-focused conference of the region’s education leaders.

RTI International, one of the world’s leading nonprofit research institutes based in Hawaii, will work with PSS and NMC for the inclusion of best practices for grades K-12 and postsecondary education.

According to the conference proposal submission signed by both Sablan and NMC president Dr. Sharon Hart, “bringing the 40th Annual Pacific Circle Consortium Conference to the island of Saipan…will further strengthen the regional relationship that we have started and will give us the opportunity to expand our Pacific capacity with new professional relationships.”

“We learn about best practices for the region and hosts of institutions including postsecondary and not just K-12…and hopefully we can get some economic partners for the region,” Sablan said.

The four-day conference will take place from July 4 to 7 and expects to receive as many as 200 to 350 participants from Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, Vietnam, Mexico, Europe, the United Kingdom, and many more.

The PCC was originally supposed to be held in Palau but representatives of PSS and NMC that attended the 2015 conference in Fiji raised the possibility of hosting it on Saipan. A proposal was drafted and accepted by the PCC chair and later a committee was created by NMC and PSS to handle logistics.

The theme for the 2016 conference will be “Navigating Global Trends of Education within the Pacific Region.” The conference call for presentations will go out by January, with selected proposals being presented through plenary sessions and breakout sessions. Registration and further information on presentation proposals can be found on the pcc.cnmipss.org website when it goes live next week.