But the government’s one adult education program is underfunded and understaffed, resulting in years of waiting for dropouts who want to continue their education.
Which caters largely to young people who dropped out of school early in life.
“They weren’t interested in school at the time, but now they see the importance of school to get a good job,” said Alson Kelen, who manages the Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) program.
Kelen’s concern is there is not enough being done by government to give dropouts the opportunity to get back into the system.
General Equivalency Diploma Director Tone Herkinos said the adult education program has a waiting list of 250 people, and generally accepts about 50 people per semester.
Over the past several years, GED has increased its intake reducing the waiting list from 600, she said. “We’ve been able to get more students into the program the past three years,” she said.
Lack of space — the program operates from four classrooms and one computer lab — forces the GED program to operate split sessions, with one group of students attending a morning session, another group in the afternoons.
With additional classroom space and funding for more teachers, GED could service all of the adults wanting to continue their education, she said.
“Some adults never finished elementary school,” said Kelen. “With the economy down it is hard to find a job. This has opened their eyes. If they want to bring food to their families’ tables, they need education.”
Kelen said the canoe building training program gives preference to applicants who have not finished elementary school because of the demand from this segment of the population.
