On Friday, 101 Marshall Islands teachers will wrap up six weeks of intensive training in preparation for the launch next month of the first kindergarten programmes in the Marshalls.
Marshall Islands public schools have never offered kindergarten programmes, but concern over the poor quality of education has led local educators to initiate the new programme in an effort to start children in school at age five instead of six.
The teachers are all former Head Start teachers.
Head Start is a now discontinued U.S. federally-funded programme that provided help to disadvantaged, low-income four-year-old children prior to their entering first grade.
Dr. Marylin Low, who supervised the training, says kindergarten classes will be taught mainly in Marshallese with a brief introduction to English.
