Results for Education

A home school trial has been set by the Ministry of Education on November 8, a public holiday in Tonga, in the event of a school closure due to COVID-19 reaching Tonga.

Problematic students in Tonga, including absentees, have increased alarmingly in 2021 compared to 2020, Deputy CEO Ministry of Education, Kalafitoni Latu said during his presentation at the Tonga National Symposium on Illicit Drugs on October 6. “The students that are absent from school are more likely to be vulnerable to the illicit drug problem.” Many come from broken homes and we need to pay attention to these figures, he said.

A new classroom building was commissioned on September 30 for Kolomotu'a Government Middle School, giving its young students additional space to learn.

A new playground for Beulah Adventist Primary School was opened today in Vaini. Funded with donations and voluntary efffort, recycled materials were used to create a beautiful playground for learning.

Children in Ta’anga, ‘Eua, are enjoying their new kindergarten that was rebuilt recently with the help of volunteers from Friends of Tonga, after it was destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Gita in 2018.

A program to support home schooling will start this month with the Ministry of Education providing a variety of tools to teachers, parents, and carers of students, in the event schools close down due to the pandemic or natural disaster. In addition, 80 teacher ambassadors have been selected across Tonga to be trained in distant education using technology.

Traditional outrigger canoes are being reborn in Tonga with a new programme, led by Master Carver, Sione Tu‘ione Pulotu, teaching innovative ways to create canoes in a day, to help revive traditional fishing methods. Fifty-eight people from Ha‘apai completed a week-long training course in building the outrigger canoes and oars at MORDI Tonga headquarters, in Tongatapu, from 24-28 May.

Villages in the Hihifo district were gifted with plumbing equipment, at an official event yesterday, to help them to maintain their water supplies and to cater to their plumbing needs.

A recent decision by the Ministry of Education to amend its Tongan language policy for Classes 1 to 3, and to introduce English as a second language at that young level will have a negative impact on the speaking of Tongan language, believes a former Minister of Education, Dr 'Ana Taufe'ulungaki.