Education in Kiribati

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Education in Kiribati is free and compulsory from age 6 to 14, which includes primary school through grade six, and Junior Secondary School for three additional grade levels. [1] In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 84.4 percent, and net primary enrollment rate was 70.7 percent. [1] School quality and access to education are better in urban areas; schools in small communities on isolated islands are expensive to maintain. [1] Mission schools are slowly being absorbed into the government primary school system.

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There are primary schools on most of the inhabited islands. Secondary schools are located on some of the islands with students travelling to live at their school. For example, Abaiang, which is in the northern Gilbert Islands, [2] has three secondary schools, in 2011 there were 212 students at the Ministry of Education school, Ueen Abaiang, which is located between the villages of Koinawa and Aonobuaka. A further 135 students are enrolled at St Joseph's College in Tabwiroa and 23 students at Steven Whitmee High School in Morikao, making 370 secondary school students in total. [2] The two high schools at Morikao and Tabuiroa accommodate students from all over Kiribati who have passed the entrance examinations to get into the schools. [2]

St. Joseph's College was founded in 1939. Its alumni include former presidents Anote Tong and Teburoro Tito.

There are primary schools and secondary schools operated by the Christian denominations including the Roman Catholic Church (such as St. Joseph's College) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (such as Moroni High School in South Tarawa, of which Waitea Abiuta has been the headmaster).

The Kiribati Teacher College and King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School, the Government High School, are in Bikenibeu in South Tarawa. [3]

Higher education is expanding; students may seek technical, teacher or marine training, or study in other countries. To date, most choosing to do the latter have gone to Fiji to attend University of the South Pacific, and those wishing to complete medical training have been sent to Cuba. [4]

The University of the South Pacific has a campus in Kiribati for distant/flexible learning, but also to provide preparatory studies towards obtaining certificates, diplomas and degrees at other campus sites.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) [5] finds that Kiribati is fulfilling only 90.6% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. [6] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Kiribati's income level, the nation is achieving 94.4% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 86.8% for secondary education. [7]

Schools

Kiribati Ministry of Education is the education ministry. Kiribati has 94 elementary schools, 24 junior high schools, and 16 senior high schools. The government high schools are King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School, Tabiteuea North Senior Secondary School, and Melaengi Tabai Secondary School; [8] Tabiteuea North, in Eita, is also known as Teabike College. [9] Previously KGV/EBS was the sole government high school. [10]

13 high schools are operated by Christian churches. [8] They are: [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Kiribati</span>

The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert and Ellice Islands</span> 1892–1976 British colony in the Pacific

The Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976, and were administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) until they became independent. The history of GEIC was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands with Banaba became part of Kiribati in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abaiang</span> Atoll of Kiribati

Abaiang, also known as Apaiang, Apia, and in the past, Charlotte Island, in the Northern Gilbert Islands, is a coral atoll of Kiribati, located in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Abaiang was the island of the first missionary to arrive in the Gilberts, Hiram Bingham II. Abaiang has a population of 5,872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabiteuea</span> Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati

Tabiteuea is an atoll in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, farther south of Tarawa. This atoll is the second largest and the most populated of the Gilbert Islands after Tarawa. The atoll consists of one main island, Aanikai in the north, and several smaller islets in between along the eastern rim of the atoll. The atoll has a total land area of 38 km2 (15 sq mi), while the lagoon measures 365 km2 (141 sq mi). The population numbered 5,261 in 2015. The islanders have customary fishing practices related to the lagoon and the open ocean.

Tabontebike is the village on the south end of Abaiang, atoll in Kiribati. There are 379 residents of the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Tarawa</span> Island of the Republic of Kiribati

South Tarawa is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki and Tanaea in the north-east, connected by the South Tarawa main road, with a population of 63,439 as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abemama</span> Atoll of Kiribati

Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of 27.37 square kilometres and a population of 3,299 as of 2015. The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of the atoll of Abemama is linked together by causeways making automobile traffic possible between the different islets. The outlying islands of Abatiku and Biike are situated on the southwestern side of the atoll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beru (atoll)</span>

Beru is an atoll in the Southern Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of the Republic of Kiribati. Beru was previously known as Eliza, Francis Island, Maria, Peroat, Peru Island or Sunday. It's part of a larger reef with the Nuka Lagoon at its center, and the nearest island is Nikunau. The Tabiang Lagoon is present in the north. Beru is home to 2,051 inhabitants. Due to sea surges, the atoll is experiencing coastal erosion along with damages to seawalls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikunau</span>

Nikunau is a low coral atoll in the Gilbert Islands that forms a council district of the Republic of Kiribati. It consists of two parts, with the larger in the northwest, joined by an isthmus about 150 metres (490 ft) wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonouti</span>

Nonouti is an atoll and district of Kiribati. The atoll is located in the Southern Gilbert Islands, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa. The atoll is the third largest in the Gilbert Islands and is the island where the Roman Catholic religion was first established in Kiribati, in 1888.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bikenibeu</span> Place in Gilbert Islands, Kiribati

Bikenibeu is a settlement in Kiribati. It is located close to the southeastern corner of the Tarawa atoll, part of the island country of Kiribati. It is part of a nearly continuous chain of settlements along the islands of South Tarawa, which are now linked by causeways. The low-lying atoll is vulnerable to sea level rise. Rapid population growth has caused some environmental problems. Kiribati's main government high school, King George V and Elaine Bernachi School, is located in Bikenibeu, as well as the Ministries of Environment and Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in the Comoros</span>

Practically all children attend Quranic school for two or three years, starting around age five; there they learn the rudiments of the Islamic faith and some classical Arabic. When rural children attend these schools, they sometimes move away from home and help the teacher work his land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Kiribati</span>

Christianity is the predominant religion in Kiribati, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Saint Lucia</span>

Education in St. Lucia is primarily based on the British education system and is provided in public and private schools.

Education in Eswatini includes pre-school, primary, secondary and high schools, for general education and training (GET), and universities and colleges at tertiary level.

Primary school education in Fiji is compulsory, and subsidized for eight years. In 1978, the gross primary enrollment ratio was 113.5 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 97.7 percent. As of 2009, attendance was decreasing due to security concerns and the burden of school fees, often due to the cost of transport. In 2013, the Bainimarama government made education at the primary and secondary level in Fiji free for all students. Fiji has since achieved universal access to primary education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Tarawa</span> A string of islets in Kiribati governed by the Eutan Tarawa Council

North Tarawa or in Gilbertese Tarawa Ieta, in the Republic of Kiribati, is the string of islets from Buariki at the northern tip of Tarawa atoll to Buota in the South, with a combined population of 6,629 as of 2015. It is administratively separate from neighbouring South Tarawa, and is governed by the Eutan Tarawa Council (ETC), based at Abaokoro.

King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School (KGV/EBS) is a government senior high school of Kiribati, located in Bikenibeu, South Tarawa. As of 1993 it had almost 600 students. In 1993 it had a competitive admissions process as there was not enough space for every high school student in Kiribati; the remainder had to enroll in Christian high schools. Since then the Kiribati government has established two additional government high schools.

Stephen Whitmee High School is a senior high school in Morikao, Abaiang Island, Kiribati. It is affiliated with the Kiribati Uniting Church.

King George V School (KGV) was a government high school for boys in the Gilbert Islands, within the British colony Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Throughout its history it was in multiple locations in South Tarawa and Abemama. It served as a boarding school, and trained people to be government workers and teachers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kiribati" Archived 2008-04-23 at the Wayback Machine . 2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  2. 1 2 3 "4. Abaiang" (PDF). Office of Te Beretitent - Republic of Kiribati Island Report Series. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "6. South Tarawa" (PDF). Office of Te Beretitent - Republic of Kiribati Island Report Series. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Pacific Magazine: I-Kiribati Students Perform Well In Cuba, Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association, 24 December 2007.
  5. ↑ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  6. ↑ "Kiribati - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  7. ↑ "Kiribati - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  8. 1 2 "VSA Assignment Description Assignment title English Language Trainer (of Trainers/ Teachers) Country Kiribati Archived 2018-07-06 at the Wayback Machine ." Volunteer Service Abroad (Te Tūao Tāwāhi). Retrieved on 6 July 2018. p. 6-7.
  9. 1 2 "TABITEUEA NORTH 2008 Socio-Economic Profile" Part 2 of 4 Archived 2018-09-14 at the Wayback Machine . Strengthening Decentralized Governance in Kiribati Project , Ministry of Internal and Social Affairs (Kiribati). p. 48 (PDF p. 13/15). Part 1 is here Archived 2018-09-14 at the Wayback Machine .
  10. ↑ Talu, Alaima. "Towards Quality in Education" (Chapter 21, in Part IV: Social Issues). In: Van Trease, Howard (editor). Atoll Politics: The Republic of Kiribati. University of Canterbury MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and University of the South Pacific Institute of Pacific Studies, 1993. ISBN   095833000X, 9780958330008. p. 242

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