Habele is an all-volunteer US-based nonprofit organization striving to expand access to quality instruction for students of Micronesia's remote Outer Island community.
This brief overview of data, taken from 2007 state and federal sources in Micronesia, provides a general glimpse of public school characteristics in the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Total K-12 Public School Enrollment
Chuuk 14,271Number of Public Schools
Kosrae 2,382
Pohnpei 10,825
Yap 3,125
Chuuk 155Number of Public School Classroom Teachers (and % with 4-year college degrees)
Kosrae 10
Pohnpei 34
Yap 60
Chuuk 948 (10%)Estimated High School Graduation Rate (the % of 8th completers who finished high school)
Kosrae 201 (15%)
Pohnpei 731 (21%
Yap 375 (5%)
Chuuk 41%Per-Student Spending in Micronesian Public Schools
Kosrae 84%
Pohnpei 68%
Yap 82%
Chuuk $565Nationwide enrollment in higher education (2-year community college system): 2,700 pupils
Kosrae $2,051
Pohnpei $1,120
Yap $1,899
In 2009, Habele provided full tuition scholarships to 16 Outer Island students attending private elementary and high schools on Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei. The average tuition was just under $500.00.
Research conducted by the Micronesian Seminar indicates that student achievement at Outer Island public schools is "well below" the performance of public school students on Yap Proper, as measured by statewide 8th exit exams.
The author of that report, Francis X. Hezel, S.J., also found that private school students in the FSM consistently outperformed their public school peers on exit exams and college entrance tests. The independent schools charge tuition fees ranging from 40 to 60% of public per-pupil school spending.
