King George V School (KGV) was a government high school for boys in the
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
(now
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
), within the British colony
Gilbert and Ellice Islands
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...
. Throughout its history it was in multiple locations in
South Tarawa
South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki ...
and
Abemama
Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of ...
. It served as a
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
,
[Talu, Alaima. "Towards Quality in Education" (Chapter 21, in Part IV: Social Issues). In: Van Trease, Howard (editor). ''Atoll Politics: The Republic of Kiribati''. ]University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...
Institute of Pacific Studies, 1993. , 9780958330008. p
242
/ref> and trained people to be government workers and teachers.[Garrett, John. ''Where Nets Were Cast: Christianity in Oceania Since World War II''. ]University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...
Institute of Pacific Studies (in association with the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
), 1997. p
11
, 9789820201217.
John Garrett, author of ''Where Nets Were Cast: Christianity in Oceania Since World War II'', wrote that many of its alumni "shaped a nucleus which assisted" the independence of what became Kiribati.[
]
History
It was originally located in Bairiki
Bairiki is a settlement in South Tarawa of Kiribati. The State House, the National Stadium, the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand as well as the embassy of China, and most of the Government Ministries are based in Bairiki. Bairiki is a ...
, South Tarawa
South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki ...
, where it opened in 1922.[Talu, Alaima. "Towards Quality in Education" (Chapter 21, in Part IV: Social Issues). In: Van Trease, Howard (editor). ''Atoll Politics: The Republic of Kiribati''. ]University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...
Institute of Pacific Studies, 1993. , 9780958330008. p
241
/ref> For much of its history its headmaster was a New Zealander, F. G. L. Holland.[ At some point it moved to ]Abemama
Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of ...
.[
It moved to ]Bikenibeu
Bikenibeu is a settlement in Kiribati. It is located close to the southeastern corner of the Tarawa atoll, part of the island country of Kiribati. It is part of a nearly continuous chain of settlements along the islands of South Tarawa, which a ...
, South Tarawa in 1953. From 1953 until 1975 students from the Ellice Islands could sit the selection tests for admission to the King George V School (and the Elaine Bernacchi Secondary School). In 1974, the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu
Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...
, which ended the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...
colony. The following year the Tuvaluan students were transferred to Motufoua Secondary School
Motufoua Secondary School is a boarding school for children on Vaitupu atoll, Tuvalu. it is the largest high school in Tuvalu. As Tuvalu consists of nine islands, the students reside on Vaitupu during the school year and return to their home is ...
on Vaitupu
Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people (2017 Census) living on with the main village being Asau.
Geography
The island, which covers approxima ...
.
In 1965 KGV merged with the girls' school Elaine Bernacchi School (EBS) to form the coeducational King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School.[
]
Enrollment
It had 150 students in 1955.[
]
Notable staff
* Taomati Iuta - Teacher, later Kiribati Speaker of Parliament[Hon. Taomati Iuta - Speaker of Parliament (2007-2011)]
." Parliament (Kiribati). Retrieved on 10 July 2018.
References
High schools in Kiribati
Boarding schools
Educational institutions established in 1922
1922 establishments in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Educational institutions disestablished in 1965
1965 disestablishments in the British Empire
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