Habele, a charity serving Micronesian students, has awarded it's 17th tuition scholarship for the 2009-10 school year.
Parky Mwarkie, from Kuttu in Chuuk, is enrolled at Saramen Chuuk High School as a Junior. Habele has committed to pay Partky's full tuition and fees for the remainder of the school year.
The national government of Micronesia estimates that public high schools in Chuuk State graduate only 41 percent of students.
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 Chuuk and 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.
Most families in Micronesia lack the resources to enroll their children at these higher-performing private schools. Habele's aim is to expand access to quality educational choices and to raise community expectations of schools through increased competition.
