Teacher education

In Palau "105 teachers only have high school diplomas and teaching experience in Head Start, 98 have associate degrees or finished a two-year course in college; 49 have bachelors degrees or finished a four-year course in college, and 11 have masters degree." (link)

These figures, released this past week, surprise no one in Micronesia -- and Palau is probably the most progressive of the island states.

The overall state of education in the Marshall Islands continues to deteriorate, according to a new study.

PIBC, which has a teaching site in Palau and students from Palau studying on the Guam campus, is developing programs to address the needs of teachers in the islands. (We have only two students from the Marshalls.) We currently offer a minor in teaching for our students enrolled in the BA in biblical studies program. We are also in the process of developing a BA in education which we hope to have in place by the fall of 2009.