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Education in Solomon Islands

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Education in the Solomon Islands is governed by an Education Act and is patterned after the British system. The law, however, does not make education compulsory at least in the primary level, which is the main reason why only 60% of school-age children have access to the six-year elementary or primary education, the first level of the three-tier system of education in the country. The second level is the seven-year secondary school which consists of the government’s provincial, national and community secondary schools and several privately-run high schools. Successful completion of the second level qualifies students to enter the third level or higher education, which is provided by the Solomon Islands Teachers College, Honiara Technical Institute, and the University of the South Pacific Solomon Islands Center (USP Center) – all located in the nation’s capital city Honiara. The USP Center offers distant learning courses for high school students who have failed in the qualifying examinations given by the government through the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.

The Ministry has made the education system heavily examination-based, especially after the primary and secondary levels to improve quality of education and literacy among the students. It is also implementing programs that will help do away with the problems that hinder provision of  educational facilities throughout the country such as isolation of several communities from urban centers, poor national mailing system, and lack of telecommunication system especially in the far-flung rural areas.