Schools In Tonga

Liahona High is the Church's Flagship School in the Pacific.  Other church schools on the islands of Samoa, Kirbati, and Fiji are a close second, but Liahona is the largest and nicest facility.  Below are some pictures of classrooms with students and teachers.  These will not look so different from the classrooms you remember as a student, but probably not as nice as the classrooms you see in today's modern schools in the states. 

Below are some pictures to give you a comparison of other schools on the island. 

This picture is looking from the road across the grounds of an elementary (primary) school.

GPS stands for Government Public School and Kahoua is the village name. 

This is a  primary school Class 1 thru Class 6 

Notice the sign "From the People of Japan" -- much aide is given to Tonga from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Here is a primary classroom.  Two-to-a-bench and table is the norm. This class has flooring covering the concrete, most GPS do not have this nicety.

All Secondary Schools are sponsored by outside organizations or churches.     Here are some pictures of a Queen Solete High School -- double story buildings 

Here is a math classroom ... notice the environment and bench / tables

 

 

Another high school visit took us St. Andrews Anglican High School

I casually walked around and took pictures while Elder Meyers was talking to the office.  I felt comfortable and walked into the art classroom and found the art teacher.  He saw my name tag and gave me a Tongan check greeting and then told me he was a returned missionary, married in the temple and lives in the village behind Liahona, named Kahoua.  We had a very pleasant visit and upon leaving I in turn gave him a Tongan check goodbye, which he warmly accepted.