Education

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
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
 Total  Males Females  Total  Males Females  Total  Males Females
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
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
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