Sports

ONOC-SPC partnership to benefit Pacific sports

March 24, 2021 2:45 pm

The Oceania National Olympic Committees and the Pacific Community (SPC) signed a memorandum of understanding today that will benefit Pacific sports.

This partnership will strengthen career pathways, technical expertise and administration skills across the region in sports.

As part of the MOU, ONOC’s Oceania Sport Education Programme (OSEP) commits to accredit its courses against the Pacific Qualifications Framework (PQF).

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The accreditation process and the registration of OSEP’s realigned training courses on the Pacific Register of Qualifications and Standards will be implemented with the assistance of SPC’s education division, the Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP).

ONOC President Dr Robin Mitchell says the agreement is special because it is critical to the Pacific islands in two ways.

He says, firstly in positioning sport as a key enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pacific island countries, a fact already recognized by the United Nations and linked to the Olympic Movement and secondly as a core part of global recovery plans from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

OSEP is a regional sports education programme designed to build the capacity of Pacific based coaches, administrators and trainers utilizing a regional approach of collaboration.

It is currently delivered across 15 Pacific island countries and is only community-based sport education programme of its kind.

With this agreement, the training programs will move towards even greater international recognition.

SPC’s Director-General Dr Stuart Minchin says the initiative on accreditation of short courses fills an important gap in the enhancement of the quality of education and training.

The MOU runs from 2021 to 2024 and is geared to increase the capacity of Pacific sport coaches, administrators, and managers toward the growth of a Pacific sport industry that develops world class sportspeople that jointly contribute to Pacific economies.