By Pesi Fonua

As 2019 comes to a close, there is hope for a better year in 2020. There is also hope in the long term for a better future for the Kingdom of Tonga - a heavily indebted and aid dependent nation, struggling with an NCD crisis, poverty and an illicit drugs problem - not to mention the impending threat from climate change. Tonga’s economy is stagnant with many Tongans choosing to either emigrate or work as seasonal unskilled labourers in Australian orchards.

Most of Tonga’s future workforce and leaders will be the output of the education system that exists now - an education system that appears to be flawed and broken.

Earlier this month, on 11 December, the newly appointed Minister of Education Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni made a depressing announcement that only 42.7% of Tonga's primary school students passed their Secondary School Entrance Exam results.

He stated, “The Ministry will look at these factors and see what assistance can be given to improve pass results, particularly for English and Mathematics.”

So what has gone wrong with Tonga's education system?

There has been much trial and error over the years, leading to the current disappointing results.

In 2014, Tonga’s Pohiva Government introduced the "National Raw Marks - Outcome Based System".

This system replaced a standardized grading system that was in the middle of development with the support of New Zealand – a country highly regarded for its education.

The standardized grading system was being developed at a time when entering a New Zealand University with a high school degree from Tonga had been a serious challenge since 2003.

This was because Tonga’s education system had undergone a major shift in 2003 when the Ministry of Education ceased offering the New Zealand University Entrance and Bursary Examinations.

Form 7

In 2004, Tonga’s Ministry of Education adopted the Regional South Pacific Form Seven Certificate (SPFSC) introduced by the Pacific Community.

The South Pacific Board for Examination Assessment was established in 1981 by the South Pacific Commission and the South Pacific Forum. It was born out of a wish to help each country develop its own national certificates. It was thought at the time, that the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate and New Zealand examinations would no longer be used in the region.

However, over the years, the number of Pacific Islands that are still using the Regional South Pacific Form Seven Certificate has declined to now only five: Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. There are also two Tongan secondary schools that sit the SPFSC, 'Apifo'ou and Tailulu secondary schools.

During the transition from the New Zealand’s University Entrance and Bursary Examinations to the South Pacific Form Seven Certificate Examination, Tonga was developing a new Education system under the guidance of Minister of Education at the time, Dr ‘Ana Maui Taufe‘ulungaki.

Dr Taufe‘ulungaki was appointed as a Minister of Education and Cabinet member by Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano, following the 2010 General Election.

According to ‘Emeli Pouvalu who was the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Education in 2012, Tonga set and assessed its own examination papers for Form 5, 6 and 7, and there was no need for Tonga’s examination results to be assessed and confirmed by the South Pacific Board for Examination Assessment.

Then, following the General Election in 2014, the late Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva was elected as Prime Minister.

Dr ‘Ana Taufe‘ulungaki was not reappointed to Cabinet and the new Prime Minister Pohiva also took over the portfolio of the Minister of Education.

Raw Marks

The late PM, as Minister of Education, introduced the transition from Standardized Marks to Raw Marks in 2015, even though it was supposed to be on trial in 2016 before it was implemented.

The decision to introduce the new system did not go down well with many in the education administration at the time and it provoked much anger even among strong supporters of the late PM.

This backlash included a petition to remove the late PM from his position as Minister of Education. The petition led by former Education CEO Emeli Pouvalu in 2016, claimed over 900 signatures.

Following the 2015 Form Seven end of the year examination, according to the USP Tonga Campus there was a marked increase in the number of students who had to do foundation courses in mathematics from 80 to 150.

In 2017, the late PM swapped his Education portfolio with former Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Penisimani Fifita.

In 2018, MP Lord Tu'ilakepa told parliament that Tonga was struggling to win acceptance for its changed exam system. In the eyes of overseas schools and employers, the mis-spelled copies of Tongan School Certificates had little or no credibility.

Following the death of Pohiva in September this year, Fifita was replaced by Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni as Minister of Education in a major reshuffling of Government by the new Prime Minister Pohiva Tu‘i‘oneto‘a.

Interestingly, Tonga's new Minister of Education, Hon. Sovaleni, was 'Akilisi Pohiva's Deputy Prime Minister in 2015 when the late PM introduced the Raw Marks system. The late PM and his deputy, however, fell out, and Sovaleni lost his seat in Cabinet.

More intriguing this time around is that Hon. Sovaleni was selected by Hon. Tu'i'onetoa as his new Minister of Education. Sovaleni is the son of a long serving Minister of Education, the late Dr Langi Kavaliku, who held the portfolio for 30 years from 1970 to 2000.

Tonga’s new Parliament has not met since the appointment of the new Cabinet in December, so we have yet to find out if there will be any radical changes to the education system that was introduced by the late PM.

As 2019 draws to a close and another school year begins in 2020, optimism for reforms is in the air. Hopefully, the education of Tonga’s children will be a priority in these reforms.