Poor academic results in Marshall Islands concerning

Transcript

Marshall Islands education authorities admit academic results that are some of the worst in the Pacific are concerning.

Results from the Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment show Marshall Islands fifth and seventh graders achieved the lowest scores in the region.

The country's own test results show about a half to three quarters of students across the grades can't understand subjects to their grade levels.

The Commissioner of Education Evelyn Konou says the results are disappointing.

But she says they should improve next year as teacher aides are brought in to crowded urban schools, and teachers in smaller rural schools are trained to teach multiple grades.

However correspondent Giff Johnson told Jo O'Brien that while efforts have been made to improve the education system and modest rises have been achieved in some grades, it will take a long time to really turn results around.

GIFF JOHNSON: There remain many school teachers in the Marshall Islands who are not properly trained, haven't got college education or teacher certification, and this has been an ongoing issue. I mean it's improved significantly, there's been a big push over maybe the last half-a-dozen years to require that teachers get a minimum of a two-year college degree, but there still are quite a number of teachers that have only a high school diploma and don't really have much teacher training, and the results are showing.

JO O'BRIEN: So it's believed to a problem more with the teaching rather than the students?

GJ: It's about the system. Students are like children everywhere; they're willing to learn, but it's just the challenges of getting completely qualified teachers into the public school system - the same with principals - and managing accountability in a government public school system has just been a huge challenge for the Marshall Islands.

JO'B: Yes, I see the president's been speaking about it. So what is the government doing at the moment?

GJ: They've been working on getting the teachers upgraded, requiring that teachers meet standards for licensing and so on. So, you know, these things are happening, it's just that they've been starting from so far in a hole that it take a long time to dig out of it and begin to show some results. Another initiative that was launched last year was to increase the Marshallese language that's provided particularly in the elementary schools on the basis that students who have a firmer understanding of their own language will do better in second language, second or third languages, and the hope from education leaders is that over the next few years that that will help to begin solving some of the language and academic challenges for students here.

JO'B: If students aren't achieving well, does that have wider impacts?

GJ: Well certainly in terms of people seeking jobs and now with heavy out-migration and ongoing outmigration to the United States you have a lot of folks who just aren't qualified to get a very good job.

JO'B: So is it seen as quite a big issue there in terms of future economic development?

GJ: Well I think there are people there in government who appreciate the challenge and the need to have greater educational opportunities for the Marshall Islands to improve the overall social and economic situation here. But whether that's a sense held generally it's hard to say. I mean, this is one of these issues where in certain countries you'd get a high demand expressed publicly, but in Pacific Islands, and probably in particular the Marshall Islands, people tend not to be loud about expressing demand for things.