ONOC has praised smaller Pacific island nations which have exceeded their education targets ©ONOC

The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) has praised smaller Pacific island nations which have exceeded their national sport education programme targets.

ONOC had hoped to reach 2,000 participants from 15 countries with its Oceania Sport Education Programme (OSEP), but reduced that goal in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The organisation instead aimed for 500 people to be trained across nine countries.

"The smaller nations, namely Cook Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu, with limited restrictions exceeded targeted numbers," said ONOC Education Commission chairman James Tobin.

The ONOC Education Commission held its latest meeting this week ©ONOC
The ONOC Education Commission held its latest meeting this week ©ONOC

"Some of the courses successfully delivered included strength and conditioning coaching, community coaching, sports team management, development coaching and sports organisation management among others."

During its latest meeting, the ONOC Education Commission also discussed the external evaluation of OSEP, carried out by the Compass Pasifika and Apex Global Sport Group Consortium last year.

The panel said it would shift the OSEP towards a digital learning management system, which was among the recommendations made in the evaluation, conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The new system "adequately addresses pandemic realities", the Commission said.