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''Nauru'', officially the '''Republic of Nauru''' and formerly known as '''Pleasant Island''', is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in [[Kiribati]], 300 km to the east.  
<!-- VISCED staff should copy across any Re.ViCa information on universities and polytechnics but should not create any new information or even update any information unless it is quick to do so  -->
<!-- Read other pages to ensure you are not providing too much detail  -->
<!-- Detailed information on relevant ministries, agencies and institutions  should be created on separate pages and linked in to this page  -->
 
''by [[Nikki Cortoos]] of [[ATiT]]''
<!-- Replace by name(s) of lead author(s) and also cite the main Re.ViCa author  -->
 
 
== Partners and Experts in Nauru==
<!-- This should include VISCED partners in the country, or partners from other current/former relevant projects such as Re.ViCa -->
<!-- as well as members of IAC and other experts in universities, key ministries or agencies -->
 
 
== Nauru in a nutshell ==
<!-- enter a few sentences - focus on name(s) of country, location, population, capital city -->
<!-- (please look for up to date information especially for population) -->
 
''Nauru'', officially the '''Republic of Nauru''' and formerly known as '''Pleasant Island''', is an island nation in [[Micronesia]] in the South [[Pacific]]. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in [[Kiribati]], 300 km to the east.  


Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 square miles).
Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 square miles).


Its population is around 10,000.
The population of Nauru is 9,378 (July 2012 estimate according to CIA's [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nr.html World Factbook]).


Its capital is Yaren.
Its capital is Yaren.


Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968.
Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], and the [[United Kingdom]]. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968.
 
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rock island, with deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations. This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  


Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rock island, with deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations. This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust established to manage the island's wealth became greatly reduced in value. To earn income, the government resorted to unusual measures. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and money laundering center. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing an illegal migrant detention center that held and processed asylum seekers trying to enter Australia.
When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust established to manage the island's wealth became greatly reduced in value. To earn income, the government resorted to unusual measures. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing a detention centre that held and processed asylum seekers trying to enter [[Australia]].


From December 2005 to September 2006, Nauru became partially isolated from the outside world when Air Nauru, the only airline with service to the island, ceased to operate. (The only outside access to Nauru was then by ocean-going ships.) The airline was able to restart operations under the name Our Airline with monetary aid from Taiwan.
From December 2005 to September 2006, Nauru became partially isolated from the outside world when Air Nauru, the only airline with service to the island, ceased to operate. (The only outside access to Nauru was then by ocean-going ships.) The airline was able to restart operations under the name Our Airline with monetary aid from [[Taiwan]].


In December 2009 Nauru became the fourth country to recognise [[Abkhazia]], and [[South Ossetia]], regions of [[Georgia]] which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s and were recognised as such by [[Russia]].
In December 2009 Nauru became the fourth country to recognise [[Abkhazia]], and [[South Ossetia]], regions of [[Georgia]] which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s and were recognised as such by [[Russia]].




== Education ==
== Education in Nauru ==
<!-- overview of all sectors (schools and post-secondary), focussing on laws, statistics, organisation, ministries and agencies  -->
<!-- if already in page, make the Re.ViCa header "Education Policy in Country" a subheader of "Education in Country"-->
 
The small republic faces immense economic and budgetary challenges to providing educational services to its small and remote population. During 2000-2005, Nauru's crisis caused a near-collapse of the education system and schools on the island barely functioned. Schools at all levels closed and the most skilled teachers left. Nauru is gradually rebuilding it educational systems following this period; it could be argued that this will take 5-10 years before some stability returns and students exit the secondary system of education seeking higher education.
 
'''Source''': ''Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report'', DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ACODE]]), the Australian Universities Quality Agency ([[AUQA]]) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education ([[INQAAHE]]), the International Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ICDE]]), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.
 
 
== Schools in Nauru ==
<!-- cover pre-primary, primary and secondary (all kinds including vocational)  -->
<!--- please include an introduction to schools and a list of schools. If there are too many schools in this country, link to an external list of all the schools (on Ministry’s website or Wikipedia) and list the most important ones (well-known school or exemplar) -->
<!-- make sure you include private schools (non-profit, e.g. foundations and for-profit) -->
<!-- include a section on homeschooling  if applicable -->
 
Attendance at school is compulsory for Nauruan children from 5 to 16 years old. Two types of schools are available, both coeducational: those run by the government and those by the Roman Catholic Church. Education is provided free by the government. In the early 1990s, Nauru had six pre-primary and two primary schools, one secondary school, and a technical school, as well as a mission school.
 
Education on Nauru is available up to the intermediate level.
 
 
== Further and Higher education ==
 
 
=== Universities in Nauru ===
<!-- this should already cover public and private (non-profit and for-profit) including open universities  -->
 
Higher education mainly takes place overseas, primarily in [[Australia]], assisted by the government in the form of competitive scholarships.
 
There is also a university extension centre affiliated with the [[University of the South Pacific]] USP Nauru Campus. 
 
 
=== Polytechnics in Nauru ===
 
<!-- this should already cover polytechnics, universities of applied sciences, university colleges etc  -->
 
<!-- and public and private (non-profit and for-profit) including open polytechnics -->
 
 
=== Colleges in Nauru ===
 
<!-- colleges with university-level provision - such as US community colleges - sbhould be covered here unless they have over 50% university-level provision, in which case they should be covered under "polytechnics"  -->
 
<!-- cover public and private (non-profit and for-profit) -->
 
 
== Education reform ==
 
<!-- focus on the last 10 years at most -->
 
=== Schools ===
 
 
=== Post-secondary ===
 
 
<!-- divide into universities, polytechnics and colleges if need be  -->
 
<!-- VISCED authors should focus just on colleges  -->
 
<!-- if already in page, make “The Bologna Process” a subheader of universities  -->
 
<!-- copy any Re.ViCa information on universities and polytechnics but do not create or update any information -->
 
== Administration and finance ==
 
=== Schools ===
 
<!-- describe any issues of school fees or other costs if state schools are not free  -->
 
 
=== Post-secondary ===
 
<!-- divide into universities, polytechnics and colleges if need be  -->
 
<!-- for colleges, describe the student fees regime if colleges charge student fees -->
 
== Quality assurance, inspection and accreditation ==


Attendance at school is compulsory for Nauruan children from 5 to 16 years old. Two types of schools are available, both coeducational: those run by the government and those by the Roman Catholic Church. Education is provided free by the government. In the early 1990s, Nauru had six preprimary and two primary schools, one secondary school, and a technical school, as well as a mission school.
=== Schools ===
 
<!-- describe the inspection agencies  -->
 
 
=== Post-secondary ===
 
<!-- subdivide as necessary - QA for HE is usually very different from QA for colleges  -->
 
<!-- describe the accreditation regime and the QA agency or agencies  -->
 
 
== Information society ==
 
<!-- for some background on this rather vague but still pervasive concept see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_society  -->
 
<!-- overview, focussing on laws, statistics, rankings, ministries, agencies and initiatives  -->
 
<!-- include any Re.ViCa material from the section "Country's HEIs in the information society"  -->
 
Telecommunications on Nauru have been extremely poor. Recently however, mobile phone services and basic Internet connectivity together with island-wide radio and TV coverage has become available.
 
'''Source''': ''Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report'', DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ACODE]]), the Australian Universities Quality Agency ([[AUQA]]) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education ([[INQAAHE]]), the International Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ICDE]]), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.
*or online: http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/country_profiles/nauru/
 
== ICT in education initiatives ==
 
: Despite Nauru's financial and educational challenges , innovative solutions to provision of distance education are gaining momentum as evidinced by the community radio station and the Nauru Government support for projects such as the COL’s Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth ([[VUSSC]]). It can be argued that Nauru’s challenges in education can only be met by distance education.
 
===Radio Pasifik-Nauru===
A successful innovation is '''Radio Pasifik-Nauru''', Triple 9 FM, an educational community radio station that was started in April 2007, and which distributes audio recordings of lectures.
 
 
This community-based educational radio station was designed to assist students on Nauru to overcome isolation, frequent power cuts and the scarcity of transportation and fuel. Students from secondary schools and the University of the South Pacific ([[USP]]) can get help through the radio with their course work.
 
The station broadcasts a range of programming, including lectures and tutorials recorded weekly at the USP in Fiji. Each week, these recordings are sent digitally to Nauru and re-broadcast over Radio Pasifik-Nauru. USP lectures and tutorials comprise about half the station’s programming. The rest consists of local programming or pre-recorded segments on current affairs and topical interests. Most interestingly, programming includes audio files produced by universities in Australia, UK, Canada, US and New Zealand and from social media sites. Radio Pasifik-Nauru demonstrates that innovative approaches can succeed in delivering distance educaton even under conditions of extreme isolation.
 
Drawing on the University's satellite-communications network (USPNet), 2 staff members from Suva, Fiji and several volunteers from Nauru side blended live audio and video conferences, email, web/online resources and on-site tutoring in software and computer skills through training conducted by Nauru campus information technology (IT) staff. This training covered the basics of on-air announcing, script writing, broadcast ethics, simple audio-editing software, equipment operations, etc.
 
 
It is a sister station to USP’s main student and community radio station, Radio Pasifik, Triple 8 FM, located at
the Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji. Radio Pasifik is the University of the South Pacific’s educational community-based radio station, which began broadcasting in 1996 as an educational, non-profit community radio station. The University provided financial assistance of F$90,000 to redevelop Radio Pasifik, which had temporarily closed in 2010 until December 2011. The new station will be broadcasted in six languages and streamed via internet to reach listeners around the region.
 
 
'''Sources''':
* ''Radio Pasifik Nauru begins on a wave of success'', USPBeat Volume 7, Issue 4, The University of the South Pacific, April 2007, April 2012
* ''Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report'', DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ACODE]]), the Australian Universities Quality Agency ([[AUQA]]) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education ([[INQAAHE]]), the International Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ICDE]]), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.
** or online: http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/country_profiles/nauru/
* ''Radio Pasifik-Nauru'', The Communication Initiative Network, June 2007, http://www.comminit.com/node/135145, April 2012
* ''University opens radio station'', The University of the South Pacific, Marketing & Communications Office, 29 December 2011, http://www.usp.ac.fj/news/story.php?id=931, April 2012
* 2007, http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/rnd13/view (currently not available)
 
=== Virtual initiatives in schools ===
 
<!-- include virtual schools, virtual classes, schools consuming virtual classes, and other initiatives  including not-schools and services for homeschoolers -->
 
<!-- create a separate wiki page per "school" and add here a short introduction and link to the separate school wiki page. -->
 
 
=== Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education ===
 
<!-- for important countries you will want to  divide this into universities, polytechnics and colleges -->
 
<!-- include virtual campuses and virtual universities (distance education) as well as on-campus initiatives  -->
 
 
==  Lessons learnt ==
 
<!-- you cannot write this until other material is complete and you have had time to review it  -->
 
 
=== General lessons ===
 
 
=== Notable practices ===
 
<!-- include exemplar practices (ones to follow) as well as practices to avoid  -->
 
 
== References ==
 
<!-- cite the relevant Wikipedia, OECD, UNESCO, EU, EUN, ICT4D, etc reports -->
 
* ''Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report'', DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ACODE]]), the Australian Universities Quality Agency ([[AUQA]]) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education ([[INQAAHE]]), the International Council for Open and Distance Education ([[ICDE]]), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.
** or online: http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/country_profiles/nauru/


Education on Nauru is available up to the intermediate level; higher education overseas, mainly in Australia, is assisted by the government in the form of competitive scholarships. There is also a university extension centre affiliated with the [[University of the South Pacific]]. 




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[[Category:Nauru| ]]
 
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[[Category:Micronesia]]<!-- Also add relevant containing continent or continental/oceanic/political (sub)regions -->
[[Category:Commonwealth Oceania]]
 
[[Category:Commonwealth countries]]<!-- Also add categories for language communities -->
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[[Category:Countries in stubs]]
[[Category:Countries in merged template]]
[[Category:Tier 2S]]
[[Category:VISCED]]
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{{United Nations}}
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Latest revision as of 20:29, 10 May 2023


by Nikki Cortoos of ATiT


Partners and Experts in Nauru

Nauru in a nutshell

Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east.

Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 square miles).

The population of Nauru is 9,378 (July 2012 estimate according to CIA's World Factbook).

Its capital is Yaren.

Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rock island, with deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations. This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust established to manage the island's wealth became greatly reduced in value. To earn income, the government resorted to unusual measures. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing a detention centre that held and processed asylum seekers trying to enter Australia.

From December 2005 to September 2006, Nauru became partially isolated from the outside world when Air Nauru, the only airline with service to the island, ceased to operate. (The only outside access to Nauru was then by ocean-going ships.) The airline was able to restart operations under the name Our Airline with monetary aid from Taiwan.

In December 2009 Nauru became the fourth country to recognise Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, regions of Georgia which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s and were recognised as such by Russia.


Education in Nauru

The small republic faces immense economic and budgetary challenges to providing educational services to its small and remote population. During 2000-2005, Nauru's crisis caused a near-collapse of the education system and schools on the island barely functioned. Schools at all levels closed and the most skilled teachers left. Nauru is gradually rebuilding it educational systems following this period; it could be argued that this will take 5-10 years before some stability returns and students exit the secondary system of education seeking higher education.

Source: Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report, DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education (ACODE), the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.


Schools in Nauru

Attendance at school is compulsory for Nauruan children from 5 to 16 years old. Two types of schools are available, both coeducational: those run by the government and those by the Roman Catholic Church. Education is provided free by the government. In the early 1990s, Nauru had six pre-primary and two primary schools, one secondary school, and a technical school, as well as a mission school.

Education on Nauru is available up to the intermediate level.


Further and Higher education

Universities in Nauru

Higher education mainly takes place overseas, primarily in Australia, assisted by the government in the form of competitive scholarships.

There is also a university extension centre affiliated with the University of the South Pacific USP Nauru Campus.


Polytechnics in Nauru

Colleges in Nauru

Education reform

Schools

Post-secondary

Administration and finance

Schools

Post-secondary

Quality assurance, inspection and accreditation

Schools

Post-secondary

Information society

Telecommunications on Nauru have been extremely poor. Recently however, mobile phone services and basic Internet connectivity together with island-wide radio and TV coverage has become available.

Source: Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education: A pilot study in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. Final Report, DEHub, the Australasian Council for Open and Distance Education (ACODE), the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), December 2011, http://www.icde.org/projects/regulatory_frameworks_for_distance_education/final_report, April 2012.

ICT in education initiatives

Despite Nauru's financial and educational challenges , innovative solutions to provision of distance education are gaining momentum as evidinced by the community radio station and the Nauru Government support for projects such as the COL’s Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC). It can be argued that Nauru’s challenges in education can only be met by distance education.

Radio Pasifik-Nauru

A successful innovation is Radio Pasifik-Nauru, Triple 9 FM, an educational community radio station that was started in April 2007, and which distributes audio recordings of lectures.


This community-based educational radio station was designed to assist students on Nauru to overcome isolation, frequent power cuts and the scarcity of transportation and fuel. Students from secondary schools and the University of the South Pacific (USP) can get help through the radio with their course work.

The station broadcasts a range of programming, including lectures and tutorials recorded weekly at the USP in Fiji. Each week, these recordings are sent digitally to Nauru and re-broadcast over Radio Pasifik-Nauru. USP lectures and tutorials comprise about half the station’s programming. The rest consists of local programming or pre-recorded segments on current affairs and topical interests. Most interestingly, programming includes audio files produced by universities in Australia, UK, Canada, US and New Zealand and from social media sites. Radio Pasifik-Nauru demonstrates that innovative approaches can succeed in delivering distance educaton even under conditions of extreme isolation.

Drawing on the University's satellite-communications network (USPNet), 2 staff members from Suva, Fiji and several volunteers from Nauru side blended live audio and video conferences, email, web/online resources and on-site tutoring in software and computer skills through training conducted by Nauru campus information technology (IT) staff. This training covered the basics of on-air announcing, script writing, broadcast ethics, simple audio-editing software, equipment operations, etc.


It is a sister station to USP’s main student and community radio station, Radio Pasifik, Triple 8 FM, located at the Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji. Radio Pasifik is the University of the South Pacific’s educational community-based radio station, which began broadcasting in 1996 as an educational, non-profit community radio station. The University provided financial assistance of F$90,000 to redevelop Radio Pasifik, which had temporarily closed in 2010 until December 2011. The new station will be broadcasted in six languages and streamed via internet to reach listeners around the region.


Sources:

Virtual initiatives in schools

Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education

Lessons learnt

General lessons

Notable practices

References


> Countries
>> Main Page



For OER policies and projects in Nauru see Nauru/OER

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