ROTUMA High School recorded three teenage pregnancy cases in 2024, with the youngest being a Year 10 student.
For this, schoolteacher Jone Volitilau said in the past two years, the island had seen an increase in teenage pregnancy cases.
“Last year we had three cases, with the youngest being in Form Four (Year 10) — but they’re coming back to school this year,” Mr Volitilau alleged.
“The mind-set they have is that after school, they’ll just stay here and there’s no motivation to go to tertiary.
“This is why universities should also conduct Open Days here so that they know there’s something to do after high school.”
He said it had been a norm for students to miss school during cultural functions in different villages.
“The culture here is that when the boat arrives, only a few students come to school.
“That’s normal here on the island because the students are the ones who unload stuff from the boat for their families, and some work to earn money.”
Another issue identified by Mr Volitilau was the lack of proper ventilation in the classrooms.
“We have a computer lab, but the electricity is only on from morning until lunch time and one of the major issues in school is the lack of proper ventilation in the classrooms.
“When the power is off, the fan goes off and students lose concentration in class. Some of the classrooms need to be repaired because some of the windows are missing.
“Quarters need to be repaired; conditions are really bad and really need to be repaired now because the weather on the island is not like before.”
“In one of the big blocks that Forms 5 (Year 11) and 6 (Year 12) are using, when you sit inside and look up, you can see the sky.”
Mr Volitilau said all those issues had been raised with the Education Minister Aseri Radrodro when he visited the island last year.
Mr Radrodro has not responded to questions sent to him on the issue.
