This article describes education in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
The Education and Employment Directorate, formerly the Saint Helena Education Department, in 2000 had its head office in The Canister in Jamestown. [1] Education is free and compulsory between the ages of five and 16. [2] At the beginning of the academic year 2009–10, 230 students were enrolled in primary school and 286 in secondary school. [3] The island has three primary schools for students of age four to 11: Harford, Pilling, and St Paul's.
Prince Andrew School provides secondary education for students aged 11 to 18.
It formerly had separate first schools catering to younger students (ages 3–7 as of 2002):
The Education and Employment Directorate also offers programmes for students with special needs, vocational training, adult education, evening classes, and distance learning. The island has a public library (the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere, [12] open since 1813 [13] ) and a mobile library service which operates weekly in rural areas. [14]
The English national curriculum is adapted for local use. [14] A range of qualifications are offered – from GCSE, A/S and A2, to Level 3 Diplomas and VRQ qualifications: [15]
Saint Helena has no tertiary education. Scholarships are offered for students to study abroad. [14] St Helena Community College (SHCC) has some vocational and professional education programmes available. [16]
The sole school of Ascension Island is Two Boats School.
Education is fairly rudimentary; children leave school at age 16, and although they can take GCSEs, few do. [17] [18] The school on the island is St. Mary's School, which serves children from ages 4 to 16. The Naval Station had established a school building during World War II. The current facility opened in 1975 and has five classrooms, a kitchen, a stage, a computer room, and a craft and science room. [19] Tristan students doing post-16 education receive assistance from the Tristan da Cunha Association Education Trust Fund and typically do so in England and South Africa. [20]
The Tristan Song Project was a collaboration between St. Mary's School and amateur composers in Britain, led by music teacher Tony Triggs. It began in 2010 and involved St Mary's pupils writing poems and Tony Triggs providing musical settings by himself and his pupils. [21] A desktop publication entitled Rockhopper Penguins and Other Songs (2010) embraced most of the songs completed that year and funded a consignment of guitars to the school. [22] In February 2013, the Tristan Post Office issued a set of four Song Project stamps featuring island musical instruments and lyrics from Song Project songs about Tristan's volcano and wildlife. In 2014, the project broadened its scope and continues as the International Song Project.[ citation needed ]