An education advisor for Tokelau, Lili Tuioti says there are high hopes that a new offshore teacher training scheme will boost student achievement.
Six Tokelauans have just started studies under a new aid-funded scheme at New Zealand's Massey University.
The territory has struggled with a shortage of qualified teachers at its three schools, with sixty percent of the 35 strong teaching force having no formal qualifications apart from perhaps a teaching certificate.
Ms Tuioti says there will be a fresh intake of school leavers and under-qualified teachers every two years who will undertake to return to Tokelau after their studies.
"I think that New Zealand being bigger than Tokelau, the experiences that they will have with the teaching practice, certainly they'll bring that into the mix but we also have to make sure that our teachers don't lose sight of their obligations to return."
Lili Tuioti says Tokelau hopes at least eight out of ten teachers will hold a qualification of some sort by 2015.
