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Secretary Shoniber Submits Urgent Request for FSM Teacher Training Program

Palikir, Pohnpei (National Department of Education): September 6, 2010 - Data from the National Department of Education (NDOE) reveals that approximately 1,183 teachers, which represents roughly 61% of the entire FSM teaching workforce, have not been certified pursuant to the FSM Code requirements.

Title 40 of the FSM Code requires all teachers in both public and private schools to be certified under the FSM Teacher Certificates Policy. Under the Terms and Conditions of the US-FSM Joint Economic Management Committee (JEMCO) Education Grant FY2010, Section 2(a) provides that "the Education Sector Grant shall limit the payment of teachers' salaries to teachers who are certified or who have agreed to and are following an approved program of professional development leading to certification."

To address the issue of the 1,183 non-certified teachers, Secretary of Education Shoniber submitted to the Office of the President his department's FSM Teacher Training Program proposal, requesting a total of $3.5Million (USD) for teacher training. Vice President Alik reviewed the plan and encouraged Shoniber to prepare an official request for President Mori to transmit the said plan to Congress for their support and approval.

Burnis Danis, Chief of Division of Basic Education Systems and Accreditation, has overseen the States' submissions of extensive data regarding the status of their teachers' college education background and the teachers' performance on the FSM National Standardized Test for Teachers (NSTT). The NDOE is hoping that this data collection, indicating which teachers will be attending college to finalize their degrees and which teachers will be taking the NSTT, will qualify as the teachers' Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and satisfy JEMCO's grant conditions regarding the teachers' agreement to pursue an approved program leading to certification. If JEMCO approves the States' submission of their teachers' IDPs, then the 1,183 non-certified teachers will be granted an extra one to two years to earn AA/AS college degrees and pass the NSTT.

The NDOE is hoping to find out by September 6, 2010, the outcome for these non-certified teachers.

For more information, please contact Wehns Billen of the NDOE by e-mail at Wehns.Billen@fsmed.fm.