Education

In Tonga, it is compulsory for children to be in school from ages 4 to 18. The formal education system has four stages: Early childhood (2 years), Primary (six years), Secondary (seven years) and post-secondary (six months to three years depending on type of training. Secondary education covers years 7 to 13 (students aged 13 to 17).

The table below displays some of the key indicators for Education based on the 2016 and 2021 Population and Housing Censuses for Tonga.

Education	2016			2021
Education	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
School enrolment rate of 6-15 years olds (% of population of same age)	98%	98%	98%	98%	98%	99%
Proportion of population aged 15 years and over (%) with:
Secondary education	73%	73%	73%	67%	66%	68%
Secondary qualification (as highest grade completed)	4%	4%	5%	7%	6%	7%
Tertiary education	10%	9%	11%	7%	10%	5%
Tertiary qualification (as highest level completed)	11%	10%	12%	8%	10%	6%
Gender parity index, Primary (GPI)	0.9			0.9
Gender parity index, Secondary (GPI)	1.0			1.1

Status of schools in Tonga 2018 – 2021

Enrollment for each grade in 2021 by Age and by Sex

The table below shows the percentage enrolled by age for each grade and for males and females based on the Tonga 2021 Population and Housing Census.

Age	Total			Attending			Percent Attending			Sex ratio
Age	Total	Males	Females	Total	Males	Females	Total	Males	Females	Sex ratio
3	439	199	240	389	176	213	88.6%	88.4%	88.8%	82.6%
4	1,155	596	559	1,087	559	528	94.1%	93.8%	94.5%	105.9%
5	1,956	988	968	1,904	958	946	97.3%	97.0%	97.7%	101.3%
6	2,526	1,336	1,190	2,505	1,320	1,185	99.2%	98.8%	99.6%	111.4%
7	2,543	1,349	1,194	2,515	1,334	1,181	98.9%	98.9%	98.9%	113.0%
8	2,457	1,267	1,190	2,440	1,258	1,182	99.3%	99.3%	99.3%	106.4%
9	2,457	1,246	1,211	2,436	1,231	1,205	99.1%	98.8%	99.5%	102.2%
10	2,390	1,242	1,148	2,373	1,233	1,140	99.3%	99.3%	99.3%	108.2%
11	2,625	1,426	1,199	2,604	1,413	1,191	99.2%	99.1%	99.3%	118.6%
12	2,259	1,224	1,035	2,229	1,204	1,025	98.7%	98.4%	99.0%	117.5%
13	2,291	1,147	1,144	2,254	1,119	1,135	98.4%	97.6%	99.2%	98.6%
14	2,261	1,144	1,117	2,192	1,097	1,095	96.9%	95.9%	98.0%	100.2%
15	2,300	1,198	1,102	2,156	1,093	1,063	93.7%	91.2%	96.5%	102.8%
16	2,190	1,108	1,082	1,936	920	1,016	88.4%	83.0%	93.9%	90.6%
17	2,223	1,112	1,111	1,787	813	974	80.4%	73.1%	87.7%	83.5%
18	2,195	1,099	1,096	1,501	682	819	68.4%	62.1%	74.7%	83.3%
19	1,985	981	1,004	1,039	458	581	52.3%	46.7%	57.9%	78.8%
20	1,784	897	887	676	294	382	37.9%	32.8%	43.1%	77.0%
21	1,721	847	874	485	231	254	28.2%	27.3%	29.1%	90.9%
22	1,474	685	789	335	143	192	22.7%	20.9%	24.3%	74.5%

Source: Tonga 2021 Population and Housing Volume 2 Analytical Report, Tonga Statistics Department

Primary and Secondary School students enrolled and number of Teachers by gender 2018 - 2020

Education System	2018 – 2020
Primary Education	Male	Female	Total
Number of Students
Government	7,533	6,477	14,010
Non-Government	1,538	1,508	3,046
Sub – Total	9,071	7,985	17,056
Number of Teachers
Government	152	484	636
Non-Government	17	126	143
Sub – Total	169	610	779
Pupils/Teacher ratio			22:1
Secondary Education
Number of Students
Government	2,474	2,250	4,724
Non-Government	4,521	5,256	9,777
Sub – Total	6,995	7,506	14,501
Numbber of Teachers
Government	130	237	367
Non-Government	272	418	690
Sub – Total	402	655	1,057
Pupils/Teacher ratio			14:1

All Government and Mission Primary School Enrolments by Age, and by Level as of March 2020

AGE	Total	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	Class 4	Class 5	Class 6	Inclusive	Total
AGE	Total	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	Class 4	Class 5	Class 6	Inclusive	Total
5	2,558	2,971							2,971
6	2,712		2,792						,2,792
7	2,672			2,713					2,713
8	2,588				2,738				2,738
9	2,791					2,725			2,725
10	2,369						3,097		3,097
11	744
12	118
13	10
								20	20
TOTAL	17,056	2,971	2,792	2,713	2,738	2,725	3,097	20	17,056

All Government and Non-Government Secondary School Enrolment by Age, by Gender and by Level as of 2018 - 2020

Age	2018			2019			2020
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
10	84	112	196	110	115	225	78	104	182
11	672	710	1382	751	842	1593	768	847	1615
12	1157	1146	2303	1130	1120	2250	1104	1098	2202
13	1106	1079	2185	1222	1166	2388	1106	1100	2206
14	1108	1139	2247	1157	1132	2289	1075	1101	2176
15	952	1026	1978	975	1127	2102	972	1030	2002
16	799	943	1742	842	964	1806	809	999	1808
17	468	652	1120	617	733	1350	578	716	1294
18	256	329	585	292	351	643	287	350	637
19	86	97	183	89	147	236	95	104	199
20	14	25	39	21	29	50	15	21	36
21	4	7	11	1	3	4	4	3	7
22	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	1
23	74	37	111	0	0	0	0	0	0
Not Stated	192	260	452	271	117	388	103	33	136
Total	6973	7563	14536	7478	7846	15324	6995	7506	14501

There are no available reports for Education at the moment.

Contact Person: Mele Sikimeti Manitisa