The Parliamentary Education and Human Resources Training Committee (EHRTC) successfully concluded its hearing into the repatriation of Solomon Islands students studying at overseas academic institutions in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday 12 October 2020.

The Committee had resolved in its deliberative meeting on the 12 of August 2020 to inquire into and report on the government’s Covid -19 pandemic repatriation of Solomon Islands Students studying in various academic institutions overseas and report to Parliament. Hence, the Committee’s terms of reference (TOR) is particularly to:

• Examine the government’s COVID-19 repatriation policy for students overseas;

• Examine the administration of the policy;

• Determine the capacity of quarantine facilities to accommodate repatriated students;

• Examine the strategy to continue in-country academic education for repatriated students;

• Determine the technological capacity to accommodate online study for repatriated students;

• Examine the post-pandemic strategy to resend students back to overseas academic institutions; and

• Any other related matters.

All information of the inquiry will not be forestall or preempted at this stage until the completion of the Committee’s report. Thus, recommendations and evidences gathered during the hearings will be compiled in a report and the Committee will table it to Parliament for considerations when Parliament resumes on Monday 9 November 2020. Witnesses or stakeholders who have appeared before the Education and Human Resources Training Committee (EHRTC) during the 5 days inquiry include the officials from the Ministry of Education and Human resources Development, National Disaster Operations Committee, COVID-19 Oversight Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a representatives of repatriated students.