Vanuatu

by Tom Levec of ATiT for VISCED, based on a minimal entry by Paul Bacsich for Re.ViCa

For entities in Vanuatu see Category:Vanuatu

Experts situated in Vanuatu

None so far.

Vanuatu in a nutshell

Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu, Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean, part of Melanesia.

The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 500 kilometres (310 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. Europeans began to settle in the area in the late 18th century. In the 1880s France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the country, and in 1906 they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through a British-French Condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was created in 1980.

The population is 240,000.

The capital (and largest city) is Port Vila.

For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu

The internet domain for Vanuatu is .vu

Education in Vanuatu

There are no free schools in Vanuatu, both Public and Private. There are a number of primary schools in Port Vila and also some smaller villages too have a primary school. Most Ni Vanuatu children do not continue education beyond the primary school level. The main reason for this is due to low income wages. Most Ni Vanuatu children do not even complete the primary school. There are a few international schools like Port Vila International School which offeres education up to Grade 10 based on the Australian and New Zealand curriculum to children of expatriates.

Senior school education can always be done by distance learning. Expatriates prefer to send their children to Australia and New Zealand for secondary school and for university. The Lycee Francaise is also a good public school and many expatriates too send their children there to acquire French language skills. Malapoa College is also a renowed high school.

Schools in Vanuatu

Schooling is very different in Vanuatu to what kids experience in New Zealand and Australia. Schools in Venuatu usually have their own fruit gardens, vegetable gardings from which they grow vegetables, sweet corn, manioc, sweet potatoes, igname and taro and at least twice a week, students work in the gardens. In this way, boarding schools are able to save money by growing, cooking and eating food from their own gardens. It is also good because the students learn more than just academic subjects, they learn life skills as well, and not just how to grow plants, but every Saturday and Sunday they have to cook their own food as well because there is no cook on the weekends.

Compared to New Australian and New Zealand schools they only have a limited amount of sporting equipment, a soccer field, 4 volley ball courts, a basketball court, and a Pétanque (French bowls)field. School fees are the same for Private and Public Secondary schools at 27,000 Vatus, the local currency (which is around $AUD330 or $NZ360) for a year. That might not sound much, but the normal monthly income for a Ni Vanuatu is 20,000VT ($AUD250 or $NZ270) and most Vanuatu families have at least three children so it means they could pay 4 months salary just for school fees.

Primary

• British Primary School Port Vila
• British Primary School Port Vila
• Port Vila International School
• Sarakata Primary School

Secondary

• Correspondence School Port Vila
• Malapoa College
• Matevulu College
• Montmartre College
• Onesua College
• Aore Adventist High School
• Lycee Louis Antoine de Bougainville

Montmartre College

This was the first French school in Vanuatu, and it still is the best. It is a Catholic boarding school with 350 boys and girls from Year 7 to 10, another 150 boys and girls Year 11 and to 13, and they only get to go back to town once a month. The students and most of the teachers are Ni Vanuatu (this is what the indigenous people are called) except they do have help from around the world. There are three Brothers "Frére du Sacré Coeur" from Canada, an old priest from France and they have Sisters to help as well, one from France, one from Wallis Islands, and another from Madagascar. Everybody lives on site; there is a private house for the teachers and a large dormitory for the students.

Further and Higher education

Universities in Vanuatu

• Revans University - http://www.revans-university.edu/revans/
• University of the South Pacific - http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/

The main university operating in Vanuatu is the University of the South Pacific. This has a campus in Port Vila

The campus is the only law school in the University of the South Pacific.

Colleges in Vanuatu

There is also a school of tourism, hospitality, health and community services at the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC) in Port Vila, offering vocational training for the Ni Vanuatu.

ICT in education initiatives

The Vanuatu Ministry of Education (MoE) supports and has in its policy the introduction of ICT into schools. The Ministry, however, has not done anything substantial to realise this.

There are more than 11,000 students in secondary schools and 45,000 in primary schools scattered through out the archipelago of 83 inhabited islands. Out of a total of 77 secondary schools (government, government assisted and private) only one offered the PSSC (Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate) computing studies course as of 2005. This is possible only through the school’s own initiative, not as a matter of government policy.

Most of the other secondary schools (about 50) have computers that are mainly for administration purposes. There is no systematic uniform data program in use; each school uses what it has available. In secondary schools, there is a French assistance program funded by the French government that has put a database into French speaking schools.

Regarding ICT use, any development that goes on in any of the schools up to now has been purely the initiative of the school administration. They are left to fend for themselves in financing, personnel and facility resourcing.

References

http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/library/Internet_School.htm

http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/education/schoolexp/global/vanuatu.php

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