Two government-funded schools in Tonga have been told to close next year as part of moves by the Ministry of Education to ensure it provides proper education for foreigners’ children.
Ngeleʻia and Tokomololo Side Schools will merge with Tonga Side School in Nukuʻalofa.
Kaniva News reports the shutdown is expected to save the government’s budget and resources so it can improve running the school.
Tonga Side School was established decades ago in a bid to teach foreign children in English on Tongan curriculum with a palangi perspective.
The only Tongan children allowed to enrol were those of the royals and the nobility.
But the policy was apparently relaxed recently allowing the public to enrol their children and this was why Tokomololo and Ngeleʻia schools were opened in the early 2000s.
The Ministry however faced criticisms after allowing Tongan students to enrol while there were schools for them available throughout the kingdom.
Tongan parents vied to send their children to the Side School in the hope they could get better education because of the English teaching and curriculum.
But internal reports by the Ministry found most of these Tongan children suffered academically and were unsuccessful when they enrolled at secondary schools because they did not understand English well while they were taught at the side school.
A Tonga Broadcasting Commission report says the closing was made because the Ministry also wanted to “downsize” the number of students taught at these levels.