School Dropout Program

School Drop Out the number three issues for youth in Tonga. For two years now Tonga National Youth Congress (TNYC) have been working with six school in Tongatapu only on the  ‘School Drop Out project’. The purpose of the project to keep student in the school system until they finish from the secondary school level, that is form 6 or 7.

“What so unique with this project is the way it is set up,” said ‘Ofa Pakalani the coordinator for the project. “It’s implement to three target level according to the reason of the school drop out.The scholarship part of the project is different from other scholarship project that is run from the villages or companies. They just select the students that they see fit and pay for their school fee and that is. Where we on the other hand we don’t select our student it is given to us by the principle of the schools that we are working with”.

Last year the school drop out project work with seven student, these students were out from school for no tuition fee, parents just cannot afford to pay for their school fee or students who have been expel for breaking school rules such as no smoking, no drinking, fighting and other different misdemeanors.  “When a student has been expel we wanted to be there and help him or her to get back to school as fast as he or she can” said ‘Ofa Pakalani “for example, one of of the student that we took last year was a boy that had financial problem at home and he was expel due to not paying his school fee and exam fee. When the school told us we pay all his fee so he may continue his study and he pass his exam last year”.

“There are four people that are working in the school drop out project “this year we will do a 1 day plan and review our goal and mission before we implemented work for the year” said Ofa Pakalani “but if there is one thing that I’m certain of that this project help  students who may seem that they have no where to go but still wanting to complete their level in school”.

For 25 year TNYC have been working with projects that is addressing the top 10 issues of the youth in Tonga. With the school drop out project it  back to the student the opportunity to complete their schooling.