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 [update] 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. [1] Since then the Kiribati government has established two additional government high schools. [2]
The school is next to the Ministry of Education head office. [3]
It was formed by the 1965 merger of two schools: [1] King George V School, a boys' secondary school that was founded in 1922 in Bairiki and later moved to Abemama, [4] and then Bikenibeu in 1953, and the Elaine Bernacchi [5] School, a girls' secondary school founded in 1959 in Bikenibeu. [1] From 1953 until 1975 students from the Ellice Islands could sit the selection tests for admission to the King George V School and the Elaine Bernacchi Secondary School. [6] In 1974, the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu, which ended the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. The following year the Tuvaluan students were transferred to Motufoua Secondary School. [6]
Previously teachers at KGV/EBS did curriculum development for all government schools in Kiribati, but in 1988 they began asking for compensation for their curriculum development. The Curriculum Development and Resources Centre (CDRC), formed in 1992, eventually assumed responsibility for that task. [7]
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians, so the origins of the people of Tuvalu can be traced to the spread of humans out of Southeast Asia, from Taiwan, via Melanesia and across the Pacific islands of Polynesia.
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the nation of Kiribati.
Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people living on 5.6 square kilometres with the main village being Asau.
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 became part of Kiribati in 1979.
Bairiki is a town located in South Tarawa, Kiribati. It is crucial to the country's political and administrative structure as several governmental organizations and diplomatic missions are situated there.
Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and it has a population of 300. The largest settlement is Pepesala on Fangaua islet with a population of 300 people. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets. The inhabited islet is Fangaua, which is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long and 50 to 200 metres wide. The easternmost point of Tuvalu is Niuoko islet. The Nukulaelae Conservation Area covers the eastern end of the lagoon. A baseline survey of marine life in the conservation zone was conducted in 2010.
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.
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.
Sir Tomu Malaefone Sione,, was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He worked as a journalist from 1962 to 1968, and held the post of radio announcer in the Broadcasting and Information Department of the administration of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony (GEIC). He was the head of the southern Niutao clan. He was married to Segali.
The House of Assembly is the Legislature of Kiribati. Since 2016, it has 45 members, 44 elected for a four-year term in 23 single-seat and multi-seat constituencies and 1 non-elected delegate from the Banaban community on Rabi Island in Fiji. From 1979 to 2016, the Attorney general was an ex officio member of the legislature, until a change of the constitution modified this provision.
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.
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.
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. In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 84.4 percent, and net primary enrollment rate was 70.7 percent. School quality and access to education are better in urban areas; schools in small communities on isolated islands are expensive to maintain. Mission schools are slowly being absorbed into the government primary school system.
Tekarei Tibwere Russell is a former Gilbertese politician.
Taomati T. Iuta was an I-Kiribati politician. He was Speaker of the House of Assembly of Kiribati for the Ninth Parliament (2011–2015). He was the vice president of Kiribati from 1991 to 1994.
General elections were held in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands on 4 April 1974. All candidates ran as independents.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is a government ministry of Kiribati, headquartered in Bikenibeu, Tarawa, next to the King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School. As of 2018 the ministry has about 1,400 employees.
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.
Hiram Bingham High School (HBHS) is a secondary school in Rongorongo, Beru Island, Kiribati, serving forms 1-7. It is affiliated with the Kiribati Uniting Church. It has boarding facilities.
Sione Tui Kleiss was a Tuvaluan civil servant, priest and politician. He was a member of the legislature of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands from 1967 until the Ellice Islands separated in 1975, also serving as Minister for Commerce and Industry. Following the separation, he became a member of the Tuvalu House of Assembly and served as its Speaker.