Education in the Cook Islands has close ties with the educational system of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Primary and
secondary education are free and attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of five and fifteen.
Some degree courses are provided by the
University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...
.
History
Education in a
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
sense began with
missionaries in the early part of the 19th century. The first schools began with British missionaries from the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...
and later the
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
and possibly other church groups.
Tereora College was one such school. It was an LMS school and closed early in the 1900s. Fifty years later it reopened, in 1954, as a public school.
The European School, began in the 1920s. In the 1930s, it was based in the Sunday School Hall, on the seaward side of the Avarua Cook Islands Christian Church at the main town in
Rarotonga. It is not known at this stage as to whether it was a London Missionary Society school or privately run. However the school closed in the 1940s.
In the late 1940s, the
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
administration opened the Avarua Side School, which was an adjunct school of the Avarua Maori School. In 1958, the Side School moved to Nikao and eventually in 1975, the Nikao Side School was renamed the Avatea School.
In 1975,
Nukutere College
Nukutere College is a Roman Catholic secondary List of Christian Brothers schools, school located in Avarua, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It is the country’s only Catholic secondary school and has an important e ...
, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
secondary school in
Avarua, commenced operations. The school has been staffed by religious and lay staff. The
Christian Brothers provided staff for the college from 1976 to 2009.
Primary and secondary education
The Cook Islands Ministry of Education operates 22 government schools. In addition, there are 8 private educational institutions.
Tertiary education
The
University of the South Pacific
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...
operates a campus on Rarotonga. Some tertiary courses are available through the
Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute.
See also
*
Mana Strickland
Te Ariki Terau Mana Strickland BEM (22 June 1918 – 8 December 1996) was a Cook Island educator and politician. He was the Minister of Education in the first Cook Islands government after self-government was obtained in 1965.
Strickland was ...
*
List of schools in the Cook Islands
References
{{CookIslands-stub