18th April 2016 This is provided as clarifications regarding queries raised in the media on the involvement of Mr. Siaosi Pohiva in the Ministry of Education and Training.
Mr. Siaosi Pohiva was first recruited to the Education Quality and Assessment (EQAP) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in 2006. He was the Acting Head of Assessment Division, EQAP in January 2012 and appointed to the position of Head of Assessment Division in January 2015 to date.
This is the fourth term of Mr. Pohiva serving the EQAP. The SPC reaffirms that SPC “employs several professional officers (including Mr. Pohiva) with specific technical expertise in a variety of education-related areas.”
Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, the father of Mr. Siaosi Pohiva, was appointed as the Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training in December 2014. As such, it cannot be said that there was any such influence of the Hon. Prime Minister of Tonga Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva in performing of Mr. Siaosi Pohiva’s duties to the Regional Education systems including the Ministry of Education and Training in Tonga due to the following reasons:
1. Mr. Siaosi Pohiva carried out the duties of Head of Assessment Division, EQAP in January 2014 prior to the appointment of his father, Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva , as Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training in December 2014;
2. Mr. Siaosi Pohiva provides technical assistance not only to the Ministry of Education and Training in Tonga but to the rest of the SPC’s member countries.
-ENDS-
Issued by the: Prime Minister’s Office