Education in Kiribati

With the kind support of donors and volunteer Margaret Wallis's hard work, we are giving the gift of knowledge and education, sending 100 reading books to the Kiribati Ministry of Education to distribute to early childhood and primary schools in 2022.

Contributing to education is one of the primary development areas for VSA and we have many volunteers working alongside educators in the Pacific and beyond.

The United Nations (UN) have identified Quality Education as one of the 17 sustainable development goals. Information from the UN shows close to 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school in 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions impacted education world-wide. "Never before have so many children been out of school at the same time, disrupting learning and upending lives, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised."

Margaret Wallis worked in Kiribati with the Ministry of Education and on return to Aotearoa New Zealand sourced books to send back to support early childhood and primary learning. 

Books are a scarce resource in Kiribati and most teaching aids are provided by teachers, at their own cost. English is taught to open future opportunities that may lie beyond the atoll and require English language.