OER for STEM Education — Generative-AI Teacher Training in Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Under the 5-year Partnership for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning in the Pacific (funded by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and PACFOLD ran a 3-day 'OER for STEM Education' workshop at the University of the South Pacific's Tonga campus in Nuku'alofa, training 40 educators from Tongan secondary schools in October 2024. The workshop was motivated by acute STEM gaps — in 2023 no Tongan student qualified for medicine admission.

Facilitated by Dr Betty Ogange (COL) and Dr Rajni Chand (PACFOLD), the workshop paired teachers with education officials and subject specialists to build generative-AI and OER skills. Sister workshops ran in Fiji and the Solomon Islands (Honiara, 90 teachers), together reaching over 800 STEM educators region-wide.

Teachers produced peer-reviewed, curriculum-aligned resources and joined an ongoing regional community of practice for AI/GenAI in STEM teaching; UNESCO's International Day of Education coverage (January 2025) cited the same 40-educator figure for Tonga, and officials framed it as filling a documented teaching-resource gap. No pre/post test scores or student-outcome data have been published, and impact is reported via participant counts and officials' statements rather than an independent evaluation.