Vanuatu has more than 440 primary schools and nearly 80 secondary and technical schools with separate provisions in English and French. In addition to government-run schools, many schools are administered by non-governmental Education Authorities, such as churches, but are still essentially financed by the Government. Despite the dual language system, the national curriculum is unified through to year 13. Primary school starts at year 1 (6 years of age) and continues through year 8. After year 8, students may continue on to junior secondary school (year 9 and 10), and senior secondary school (year 11 and 12). Basic education ends after years 13 and 14, which are considered pre-tertiary (UNESCO 2008). Though Vanuatu has achieved nearly 100% enrolment in primary school, concerns about the quality of education at all levels and access to secondary school remain (World Bank n.d.).

Vanuatu has achieved nearly 100% primary school net enrolment ratio. However, attendance rates drop at the transition to secondary school, which has a net enrolment ratio of less than 50% (UIS n.d.). One reason many students do not transition to secondary level is that there are fewer post-primary institutions and they are geographically concentrated (UNESCO 2008). About 25% of secondary schools (nearly 40% of secondary enrolment) are located in Shefa province. The limited locations of schools, coupled with great distances between islands and a lack of reliable transportation make attending secondary school difficult for much of the population. Other impediments to access are limited resources (financial and human) and communication between national and provincial headquarters. Linguistic diversity restricts resources even more in terms of examinations, textbook provision, student’s choice of school, and teacher availability. Vanuatu has made great progress in terms of gender parity. In fact, girls outnumber boys slightly, especially in secondary school, in which 47% of girls and 42% of boys are enrolled (UIS n.d.).

Despite high levels of access to primary school, quality is a key problem in all levels of education in Vanuatu. For one thing, the repetition rate for primary students is around 14%, demonstrating that the system does not efficiently move students through the primary grades (UIS n.d.). Another factor leading to low education quality is the dearth of qualified teachers. Even qualified teachers do not have access to teaching resources, particularly in the rural and remote areas. The curriculum in Vanuatu is not always relevant to the context, and many students cannot find work upon leaving school.  Many school facilities need to be upgraded as most schools do not have an adequate supply of water, power sources, a phone, radio, fax or transport. Finally, linguistic diversity affects the quality of education, as it can be difficult to find qualified teachers who speak the language of instruction, or textbooks and exams in the required language (UNESCO 2008).

Provincial boards in each of Vanuatu’s six provinces oversee the running of government schools. On the other hand, non-governmental schools fall under the control of an approved Education Authority. At the local level, each school has a council and/or school committee which assists the principal in the management and administration of the school. The government funds both government and non-governmental schools, and all schools must use the national curriculum and meet national standards (UNESCO 2008).

The Vanuatu government’s Education Sector Strategy (VESS) states that their development mission is to provide student-centered education that is accessible, relevant, sustainable, responsive and of good quality. Additionally, as part of VESS, the government guarantees every child pre-school and basic education to year 8, including literacy, numeracy, life skills, livelihood skills, respect for Vanuatu’s history and culture and respect for human rights. Vanuatu’s goals with respect to basic education for the time period from 2007-16 include: achieving universal primary education completion, strengthening literacy, languages, and numeracy; providing more relevant and accessible curriculum, materials and assessment systems; providing qualified, productive and well-supported teachers for every school and strengthening the professional competence of teachers; bringing the education, management and facilities of every school up to a sustainable minimum standard, able to provide a safe and caring learning environment and continuously improving its services; strengthening the effectiveness, productivity, accountability, transparency, governance and decentralization of the education system and build capacities for results-based management at all levels; and strengthening partnerships at national, provincial and local levels and empower school communities (UNESCO 2008).