Would it be necessary to restructure Tonga's education system when a new system of government is introduced following the General Election on November 25?

This question was put to six candidates for Tonga's General Election in November who participated in a pre-election "Meet the Press" program that was held at the International Dateline Hotel on Wednesday evening, October 6. Education was the topic for the fourth of a nine weeks series.

One of the candidates, Dr Viliami Fukofuka, Tonga's Director of Education, said the answer was no, "because a reform to the education was launched three years ago, and it is currently being implemented."

Viliami said that a change to the syllabus for Class 2 upward to Form 2 had been implemented. "There will also be a new syllabus for all secondary schools."

He said change in the secondary schools syllabus was in response to an announcement by King George Tupou V in 2007, extending the age for students to remain at school from 14 to 18. The intention for this extension was that when students leave school at the age of 18, they would be better prepared for the career they would like to pursue in life.

He said that the objective of the new syllabus was "to open up students' minds." He said that when they leave school after Form 5 they needed to be able to make a living for themselves. A high percentage of Tongan secondary school students drop out from High School after Form 5. He said that works was well on the way to implement the new syllabus, and about a million booklets had been printed. But for the scheme to be fully implemented the Ministry of Education needed an annual budget of about $40 to $50 million per annum.

Viliami was optimistic that with the new syllabus and a big education budget all Tongans should be able to find an employment and a source of income, either by cultivating the land or utilising the new technology through a $60 million investment by the government to connect Tonga to the outside world through a fiber optic cable.

TESP

Posesi Bloomfield, a candidate for the Tongatapu No. 6 Constituency, is a lawyer who is advising the Ministry of Education on legal matters relating to the new syllabus. He said that the change that was needed in the education system is a change of its leader, "but not its educational programs."

Under the current government budget of $205.6 million, about 15% is allocated for education and 90% of the Ministry of Education allocation is spent on salaries. Posesi said that 7% is spent on maintenance and only 1% is spent on the improving of the teaching methods.

He said that the Tonga Education Support Program (TESP), funded by the World Bank and New Zealand aimed to establish a minimum standard and had been in operation for three years. It would run beyond November, and there is also the PRIDE project. Posesi believed that the Ministry of Education needed a bigger budget.

Internet technology

The other candidates who participated in the dialogue were, Kaveinga Vaka from Tongatapu Constituency No. 3, Siale Puloka Tongatapu No. 2, Edgar Cocker Tongatapu No. 4 and Soloni Lutui, Tongatapu No. 1.

Kaveinga Vaka, expressed his concern with the diverse curriculum adopted by Tongan schools, and he believed that it was urgent for Tonga to standardize its school system. With regards to the problems of inter-schools rivalry and fights he said that the teaching of Jesus Christ was the definite answer and the home was the first school. If the teaching in the homes was not good, it would not matter how big was the government budget for education, it would still not produce the results that we wanted.

With regards to providing relevant education for young people to satisfy their expectations Kaveinga believed that there should be more emphasis on the new technology utilising the internet.

Good teachers

Soloni Lutui expressed his support for the new syllabus that Viliami Fukofuka mentioned but he said that it was most important to have good teachers.

Edgar Cocker believed that it was important for the education system to teach relevant knowledge and skills that would enable school leavers to make a living from the national resources that were available, the land, the sea and their special skills.

Siale Puloka, however, believed that the government responsibility was to offer education and training and leave the provision of employment opportunities for others.

In general the candidates taking part in the Meet the Press program on October 6 did not think there was any need to change the school system to be in line with the proposed democratic form of government that will be introduced following the November election.

Another group of candidates will meet the press on Wednesday October 13 at 7pm at the International Dateline Hotel. The topic will be Women's issues. The public are welcome to attend and the program is aired on radio and TMN TV.