Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which often produces the country's lowest academic achievement grades, is moving to do something about it.
Street scene Ebeye island Photo: Ben Chutaro
Kwajalein Atoll's public schools include those on Ebeye Island, where about 12,000 islanders live in over-crowded conditions near the US Army's Reagan Test Site, where many Marshall Islanders work.
This year's test results show only 25 percent of eighth graders at schools in Kwajalein Atoll were "proficient" at their grade level.
Plans for an education summit have been initiated by Kwajalein Senator David Paul.
He wants to bring in experts to engage with the public, local educators and students to find ways to improve the results.
The Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority director Carl Hacker said a tentative date was set last Friday for a summit on 9 and 10 November.
The summit aims to look at new approaches and new thinking on the subject.
