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Show HURCH IN EDUCATION Schools Help Polynesians To Earn Living, Learn Gospel Continued front Page 7 lish language and, commencing with the third grade, all classes are taught in English. In a country where educational facilities are limited, the Church College of Western Samoa is providing training for its young people to assume responsibility of leader ship in Church, school, home, and country. Its course of study provides skills necessary for passing of the New Zealand and Western Samoan government exams as well as college preparatory courses necessary for entrance into the Church College of Hawaii. At the two smaller branches of the Church College, Vaiola and Sauniatu, students live at the school and raise part of their own food on school-owne- d plantations. On the island of Tutuila in American Samoa, students there have the fairly new Mapusaga High School. The school was completed in 1960 and represented four hard years of planning and effort Church members on this small island to four (25 miles long and one and one-hamiles wide) long had anticipated the benefits of a modern high school and responded with an initial enrollment of 180 students. Since that time enrollment has skyrocketed and the school has been expanded to include seventh through twelfth grades. Curriculum is similar to that of U.S. schools with special emphasis on remedial work, since many have difficulty learning the English language. Here, too, religion is an integral part of the students study. The Liahona High School serves as the center of activity for Church schools on the island of Tongatapu near the capital city of Nukualofa in Tonga. Nine side schools (junior high schools) also operate in various chapels on the three major island groups. Enrollment in these schools has grown to over 1,300, largely composed of Church members. Students who achieve in one of the side schools and have the desire to continue their education, go to Liahona which lf operates as a boarding school for those In the grades. The Church College of New Zealand is a boarding high school in the small community of Temple View near the New Zealand Temple. The school provides an educational program for the more than 600 students, which is quite similar to those in any U.S. high school. Church schools began operation in 1880 when the New Zealand Mission was inaugurated. The Maori Agricultural College preceded the completion of The Church College of New Zealand which was dedicated by President David O. McKay in 1958 in connection with the dedication of the temple. The history of the Church in Tahiti goes back to 1844 when the first foreignspeaking mission was established there. While the Church's influence has been felt in this center of French Polynesia, it was not until 1964 that government authorization and approval by Church authorities saw the completion of a modern elementary school in the city of Papeete. Now more than 500 students attend the Ecole Frimaire Elernentaire SDJ (LBS). Because Tahiti is in French territory, standards are established by the French government to which must be adhered. All teachers must be French citizens and have qualified for the French teaching certificate before they are employed. All classes are conducted in French with no Tahitian or English classes permitted. Upon completion of the sixth grade, the students are given a government exam to determine their readiness for entry into technical, agricultural or hotel schools. Modern architecture is evident in teachers' homes in Tonga. RCH WEEK ENDING JANUARY 4, 1969 This is Mapasuga High School in American Samoa. |