The Solomon Islands government has given additional grants to schools nationwide to top up their incomes as it begins trying to meet its commitment to make basic education free.
It has given 3.1 million US dollars as part of its plans for free education through to the first year of high school.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Mylyn Kuve, says it will also be applied to privately run schools, though the aim there is to reduce the fees, not eliminate them.
Ms Kuve says they are anticipating an increase in student intake and the need to recruit more teachers as well as building new classrooms.
