The Myth of Education: a Second Look

Hezel, Francis X. (2001-03-01). [www.micsem.org The Myth of Education: a Second Look]. Micronesian Counselor (Report). Kolonia, Pohnpei: Micronesian Seminar. pp. 1–8.

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Abstract: In the past a good education was the equivalent of a winning lottery ticket. The formula was a basic truth of life: success in high school meant a chance to attend college, which in turn translated into a good job and guaranteed material prosperity (and perhaps fame) for the individual, not to mention lasting security for his or her family.

After a couple of decades of disillusionment, however, the Micronesian public has become skeptical about the myth of education. Back in the 1960s and 1970s there may have been government positions ready for graduates to step into, but there aren’t anymore. Governments everywhere are trimming their work force due to cuts in US assistance. Private jobs, which still depend largely on government spending, are limited. Whatever happened to the gold-lined promises that education held out for the population? People today are looking around at those who hold elected positions and are noticing that a good number of legislators, mayors and other functionaries have had little formal education.

In fact, some holding these positions have not even finished elementary school. Successful businessmen are not always the star pupils of thirty or forty years ago, either. People are drawing the obvious conclusion that to get ahead, you don’t need much of an education. The old formula–education equals a good job–is no longer an axiom in our day as it was thirty or forty years ago. Perhaps this is inevitable after a generation of college-educated young people returned home to discover that the jobs they expected were not to be found. Their parents learned that the sure investment that education once seemed to be doesn’t always pay off.

Young Micronesians going overseas today reflect this change in mentality. In the early 1970s when federal program grants for college were first made available, there were long lines of young men and women at the departure gate of airports everywhere in Micronesia headed for college in the US. Some may have gone already exists in some of our better schools, public as well as private. Why shouldn’t it be possible to create such a climate in any community that wants its schools to be good? There are some fine public schools in every part of Micronesia–islands of excellence, they might be called–that could serve as models for other schools as they embark on their own efforts to improve. Likiep and Wotje Elementary Schools in the Marshalls come to mind, as well as the public schools in Melekeok and Peleliu in Palau. In Pohnpei, Ohmine and Seinwar schools have long been considered among the best, although other schools such as Net Elementary are beginning to challenge them. Maap Community School and Dalipebinaw are two of the better schools on Yap, while Utwe and Lelu are at the top of the list on Kosrae. In Chuuk, Mechitiw seems to have replaced Sino Memorial on Tonoas as the premiere school, while Moch has become the top school in the outer islands, a position once held by Namoluk.

There are other public schools that might well be the equal of those mentioned here, for this list is far from exhaustive. The purpose of this list is not to serve as an honor roll for public schools in the region. It is simply to remind us that there are schools, whether they are named here or not, that stand as beacons of hope for educational excellence. If they can provide quality education, perhaps all our schools can.