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8 Facts About Education in Tonga

Facts About Education in Tonga

The Kingdom of Tonga is located in the Pacific Ocean and has a population of approximately 109,008. Despite its small size, the country has made continuous improvements to its educational system. Keep reading to learn the top eight facts about education in Tonga.

8 Facts About Education in Tonga

  1. A Colonial Past – The school system that currently exists in Tonga was first established by Wesleyan missionaries in 1826. The primary language of the country is Tongan, a dialect of Polynesian, but English is also spoken as a secondary language and is taught as such in schools.
  2. Compulsory Education – Since 1876, the first eight years of education in Tonga has been compulsory for all Tongan children beginning at age 6. Tonga has divided its education system to include six years at the primary level, three at the junior and three at the senior secondary level.
  3. Free Education – Primary and secondary schools for students from ages 6 to 14 attend government-sponsored schools for free.  In 2004, 3.91 percent of Tonga’s GDP was allotted to spending on education in Tonga. This is a decrease from 5.59 percent in 1998.
  4. High Literacy Rates – The efforts of the Tongan government to create a strong base of literacy within the country has been widely successful. In 1996, the adult literacy rate of Tonga was 98.5 percent. That number has now risen to 99.0 percent in 2018, making Tonga one of the leaders of adult literacy of the nations in the Pacific.
  5. Girls’ Education – In 2015, girls were enrolled at higher rates than boys at all three levels of education. Enrollment in primary school was at 94 percent for girls and 92 percent for boys in 2015. This number dropped roughly 10 percentage points for each gender going into lower secondary schools.
  6. Ministry of Education – The Ministry of Education works to create and maintain a system of strong education in Tonga. The Ministry manages all of the government schools in the country at all education levels and ensures that the private schools within the country adhere to the national standards of education. There are two main exams that the Ministry of Education administers to all students. The first is the Tonga School Certificate. This exam is taken by students at the end of their fifth year while they are in secondary school. The second major state exam is the Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate, which is taken by students at the end of secondary schooling. Both exams serve as a measure of the thoroughness of a student’s education. The exams are administered in English, though they do emphasize knowledge of Tongan culture.
  7. Brain Drain – Following the conclusion of their secondary school education, many young scholars from Tonga seek their tertiary education abroad at universities in Australia or New Zealand. Upon completion of their degrees at university, most Tongan scholars remain in Australia or New Zealand to live and work and do not return to their homes in Tonga. In 2018, approximately 25 percent of those who furthered their education within Tonga now exist below the poverty line.
  8. Plan for Educational Improvement – Beginning in 2003, Tonga began a project for educational reform that focuses on providing access to a strong education for all Tongans. The Tonga Education Support Program (TESP) has two tiers. TESP I aims to improve equitable access to education up to Year 8, to improve education past primary school and to improve the administration of Tongan schools. TESP II aims to maximize the amount of learning that students can find within Tongan schools, to increase the teaching abilities of teachers and to improve educational facilities. The Tongan government has received financial contributions from Australia and New Zealand to do so.

– Anne Pietrow
Photo: Flickr

Tropical Cyclone Pam Devastates Vanuatu

cyclone_pam
The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is reeling from the effects of Tropical Cyclone Pam, which hit the country late last week. The storm was a category five and was one of the strongest ever recorded. Its winds were sustained at 165 mph, with gusts exceeding 200 mph.

Every one of the country’s islands took a hit, and all 270,000 islanders have been severely impacted. The capital city of Port Vila has been crippled with 90 percent of its buildings sustaining damage. 15,000 of the city’s 40,000 residents are now homeless. But Port Vila was actually spared the worst of the storm.

The hardest hit islands are also some of the most remote and difficult to reach. The worst devastation has occurred in the south. More than 90 percent of all buildings have been completely destroyed on some of these islands. It has taken nearly a week to make contact with them and aid has yet to arrive. One remote island has reported that a lack fresh water is forcing residents to drink salt water.

NGOs say the logistics of delivering aid to Vanuatu are very difficult because so much of the country is remote and difficult to reach. Some are calling it the most difficult operation they have ever faced. Since most of the infrastructure has been destroyed, many runways are unusable and this has put many islands out of reach for airplanes delivering aid.

It’s currently peak season for tropical cyclones in the South Pacific and Vanuatu is certainly no stranger to them, nor is it unfamiliar with natural disasters. The country has constantly been ranked as one of the most disaster prone in the world. The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security listed it number one in its world risk report of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, ahead of the Philippines and Tonga.

The reason it scores so high is due to its natural setting that is particularly prone to disasters and the fact that it is severely underdeveloped. Vanuatu is considered one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. Its government is inefficient and known for corruption. 70 percent of the population lives in remote areas and has limited access to basic services or utilities.

The government has few resources of its own to cope with the disaster and much of what it did have was destroyed by the storm. The government has not been able to provide much assistance outside the capital and the international community has had to take charge of the relief effort.

Two-thirds of the population rely on agriculture to earn a living, but nearly all of the country’s crops have been destroyed by the storm. This means a large number of people are now in need of food assistance and have lost their livelihood. Most buildings are built of flimsy material and are not designed to cope with strong winds. Aid groups estimate that up to 150,000 people, more than half the population, are likely homeless.

A good early warning system and a good network of storm shelters have kept the death toll remarkably low. Only 11 deaths have been confirmed, but many more are missing and unofficial reports from some islands report over 40 deaths. The death toll is likely to rise as aid groups struggle to reach islands facing hunger and disease in the storm’s aftermath. Still, many consider it a miracle that the death toll is not in the thousands.

– Matt Lesso

Sources: BBC 1, BBC 2, Business Insider, Deutsche Welle, New Zealand Herald, Virginia Gazette, The Weather Channel
Photo: CNN