Educational Reform

An educated citizenry is the key to breaking the cycle of disempowerment among the people in the Northwest region in Chuuk. No single issue deserves top priority in the outer islands today than the ensuring of adequate education for our children. It is imperative that our young generations of outer islanders are given all the available resources to survive in a globalized and fast-changing world. Without adequate education, the future of our State and its place in the global community will further decline into hopelessness.

Action Strategies:

• Advocate for the immediate creation of a Outer Islands School District (OISD) to take full control of our own educational destiny from the dysfunctional Chuuk State School System including curriculum development, funding resources, staffing, and strategies controlled by an independent staffing scheme. OISD would be operated by its own Board of Education comprising of competent educated representatives from the three regions of Pafeng, Pattiw, and Namonweito controlling all aspect of educational reform and program implementation without the disempowering intrusion of politics which has curtailed educational progress in the State of Chuuk. Efforts will be made to recruit American volunteers and educators from the diaspora to work in the OISD schools.
• Engage the sons and daughters of the Northwest living overseas for their help in program development, curriculum implementation, funding sources, and other needs of the children.
• Instill an innovative community-based public school system that engages the goodwill of the island community, church groups, youth groups, clan system, and all aspect of the community.
• Partner with international organizations and corporations to help with all aspect of the school system especially in technological advancement of the schools with regards to computer technology, textbooks, and school materials.
• Utilize the key strategies in the ADB report to improve education in the outer islands.
• Have a systematic and transparent approach to awarding scholarships for highly qualified and needy students from the Northwest region to attend high schools on Weno and college.
• Partner with College of Micronesia and other institutions of higher learning for teacher training and certification programs for teachers and administrators from the Northwest.