MET Celebrates International Literacy Day and Launches the PILNA 2025 Regional Report

                                                   PRESS RELEASE

MET Celebrates International Literacy Day and Launches the PILNA 2025 Regional Report

Nuku‘alofa, Tonga | 8 September 2026 – The Ministry of Education and Training (MET) celebrated International Literacy Day and officially launched the Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA) 2025 Regional Report.

The event was led by the Save the Children Australia (SCA) team in Tonga in partnership with MET. One of SCA’s key priorities in supporting the Ministry is strengthening literacy in Early Childhood Education, inclusive education and primary schools, making International Literacy Day especially relevant to its ongoing work.

The programme featured English poems by Meleane, a Year 4 student from GPS Mu‘a, and Simione, a Year 6 student from GPS Fasi. Fiapa‘i, a Year 6 student from Hilliard Memorial School, also delivered a Tongan presentation on literacy. Sign-language interpretation accompanied the readings, reinforcing the commitment to ensuring learning is accessible to every child. Held under the theme “Literacy for People, the Planet and Prosperity”.

The Chief Executive Officer of MET, Mr Isikeli Oko, officially launched the PILNA 2025 Regional Report in Tonga. The report provides important evidence on the literacy and numeracy achievement of Year 4 and Year 6 students across the Pacific.

SPC’s Director for Polynesia said the findings tell both an encouraging and important story:

“Pacific education systems continue to demonstrate resilience and recovery. Numeracy remains a relative strength, with around seven in ten students meeting expected standards. However, reading remains a significant regional challenge, with fewer than half of Year 4 learners meeting the expected standard.”

The report also found that students perform well on familiar and routine tasks but experience greater difficulty when required to think critically, make inferences, explain their reasoning or solve complex problems.

These findings reinforce that literacy is not simply another subject. When children struggle to read, it can affect their learning across the curriculum, confidence in the classroom and overall educational progress.

MET acknowledges the continued partnership of SCA, the Pacific Community, the Global Partnership for Education and Library For All. GPE-supported education initiatives in Tonga are made possible through donor support, including from the Australian and New Zealand Governments.

The Ministry remains committed to using the PILNA findings to strengthen foundational learning, improve teaching practices and ensure every child in Tonga has the opportunity to read, learn and thrive.

Further information and the PILNA 2025 Regional Report are available at:
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