Kiribati

by Tom Levec of ATiT

For entities in Kiribati see Category:Kiribati

Experts situated in Kiribati

None so far.

Kiribati in a nutshell

Source: Original gif on: the CIA's "The World Factbook" / Kiribati

Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas), officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the Oceania region in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The name Kiribati is the local pronunciation of Gilberts, derived from the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands. Kiribati also consists of the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands.

It is composed of 32 low lying flat and one raised coral island dispersed over 3,500,000 square kilometres (1,351,000 square miles) straddling the equator and bordering the International Date Line to the east. This makes Kiribati the most scattered archipelago in the world with an east-west diameter equivalent to the Los Angeles-New York distance.

The population is 100,743 (a July 2011 estimate according to CIA's World Factbook).

The capital city is South Tarawa, which hosted one of the bloodiest battles of World War II between the American marines and the Japanese Imperial forces. South Sarawa accommodates more than a third of the entire population of Kiribati. One of its islands in the far east, Millennium Island, became very famous at the turn of the millennium, when it became the first island in the world to receive the first sunrise of the new millenium. Fanning Island, also in the far east is famous as one of the Virgin destinations for world cruise tourists on the Norwegian Cruise Line.

Kiribati gained political independence in 1979 from the British who had ruled for 87 years. It has a 42-member unicameral law making body or legislature called the Maneaba Maungatabu, an independent judiciary and an executive headed by the Beretitenti (local word for President) and his 12 cabinet ministers including the Attorney General.

Kiribati’s economy is based mainly on its large fishery resources from which Government derives substantial revenues from fishing access fees paid by distant water fishing nations, its earnings on its Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund (RERF), remittances of over a thousand sailors working on foreign merchant and fishing vessels and to a lesser extent, on its copra and seaweed exports.

Education in Kiribati

Education delivery in Kiribati is a joint partnership effort between the government and the churches. Formal primary education in Kiribati, since 1977, is compulsory and free from class 1 - 6 usually ranging between ages 6 - 11. Juniour secondary school, this means from forms 1 - 3, usually ranging between ages 12 - 14, is also free although not compulsory. Senior secondary education from forms 4-7 ranging from ages 15-18 is subsidised by the state, making it easier for parents to sponsor their children.

Therefore, government assumed responsibility for all primary schools, with the churches being asked to change their focus to secondary education. There was some consolidation of the number of primary schools over the early part of the 1990's. In 1996, there were 17,279 children enrolled in 82 primary schools in Kiribati. The average pupil/teacher ratio in the primary school system was 24.0 to 1 and 4,023 students in 10 secondary schools.

The curriculum places emphasis on basic disciplines as well as professional subjects. English, Maths, Natural Sciences (environmental studies, biology, chemistry, physics and computer science), Social Sciences (including History and Geography) and Cultural Studies (including Kiribati language and traditional skills). It also includes such optional subjects as Accounting, Commerce, Home Economics and Industrial Arts. Cultural studies for Kiribati studies is essential for selection into junior secondary but not so for selection into Forms 6 and 7, as these are academically biased towards preparation for University education, in which the need for local language and skills is not critical.

The goal for the education sector is an education system achieving high standards, broad coverage, relevance and cost effective delivery.

Medium term objectives for the sector are:

• Upgrade resourcing of the primary school system
  • This will be done by giving priority to teacher training, classroom upgrading, and provision of teaching aids and textbooks, at the primary education level.
• Universal access to education up to Form 3
  • Proceed with Junior Secondary School programme in a staged and cost effective manner.
• Improved cost effectiveness of all levels of the education system
  • This will be possible by retaining and building on church and community participation in delivering education at all levels
  • Optimising pupil/teacher ratios
  • Introducing fees for all non-compulsory services
  • And by seeking efficiencies in the provision of post-secondary education, in both local institutions and in the funding of training at overseas tertiary institutions
• Improved quality and relevance of the education system
  • Supporting community and church groups in establishing early childhood education principles in the pre-school system
  • Improving linkages between the education system and the job market

Schools in Kiribati

Secondary Schools

There are 13 prominent secondary and high schools in Kiribati. They are:

• Government Secondary Schools
  • King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School (KGV/EBS) located in South Tarawa
  • Meleangi Tabai Secondary School (MTSS) located in Linnex
  • Teabike College (TC) located in Southern Kiribati
• Private Secondary Schools
  • Catholic Secondary Schools
    • St. Joseph's College (SJC) located in Northern Kiribati
    • Immaculate Heart College (IHC) located in North Tarawa
    • St. Louis High School (SLHS) located in South Tarawa
    • Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) South Tarawa
  • Kiribati Protestant Secondary Schools
    • Hiram Bingham High School (HBHS) located in Southern Kiribati
    • Stephen Whitmee High School (SWHS) located in Northern Kiribati
    • George Eastman High School (GEHS) located in Northern Kirbati
  • Seventh Day Adventist Secondary Schools
    • Kauma High School (KHS) located in Central Kiribati
  • Latter Day Saints Secondary Schools
    • Moroni High School (MHS) located in South Tarawa
  • Church of God Secondary Schools
    • Church of God Secondary School (COGHS) located in South Tarawa

Further and Higher education

Vocational training and university education in Kiribati through the local government, or by foreign governments, award numerous scholarships to fund training and education. These funding is based on academic merit and human resource or man-power requirements of the country.

Universities in Kiribati

Tertiary training is undertaken at the University of the South Pacific, and at a number of local institutions including:

• Atoll Institute
• Kiribati Teachers College (which trains primary school teachers)
• The Marine Training School
• Tarawa Technical Institute

Consideration is being given to consolidating some of these institutions into a College of higher education.

Polytechnics in Kiribati

• The Marine Training School
• Tarawa Technical Institute

Colleges in Kiribati

• Kiribati Teachers College (which trains primary school teachers)

ICT in education initiatives

Computer sciences have been offered as optional courses in Kiribati schools for a long time but ICT as such is absent if only, relatively new. Schools like Moroni High School, KGV/EBS and USP Centre have had computer labs and have offered computer studies for long. The cost of internet connectivity in Kiribati is still relatively high and poor and most schools have no access to the internet. Hence in 2005, there was no known national curriculum on ICT.

Lessons learnt

Notable practices

Kiribati is one of the 12 member countries of the University of the South Pacific (USP), and therefore it has access to the facilities of the university, including the USP Centre on Tarawa and, through it, to the USPNet satellite system.

For details of ICT in Education see http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ict/Metasurvey/KIRIBATI.PDF

This could be expanded here into a full country report.

References

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For OER policies and projects in Kiribati see Kiribati/OER

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