New Caledonia Education: French Colonial Schools



Figure 1.--This photograph was taken in Port-Laguerre, a village near Païta. It is undated, but it wasprobably taken in the 1960s. The school was founded by the Marist Brothers in 1949 and closed in 1969. By this time the French authorities were giving much more attention to public education. This was a boarding school. The pupils wear a school uniform of short pants and t-shirts with bare feet.

New Caledonia is a South Pacific island group northeast of Australia. We know nothing about traditional schools or education on the islands. Europeans began settling the island in the early 19th century. The first Europeans were whalers and traders. Sandelwood from the island was especially desirable. It is at this time that missionaries begin to arrive. We do not know when the first European school was founded. Almost ceetainly it was a missionary school. The French annexed the island (1853). We have some information on education during the French colonial era. We do not think that French colonial officials took much interest in the education of the indigenous people during the 19th century. We notice some missionry schools in the 20th century. We notice a missionary school we think in the 1930s. Here we see another missionary school, probbly in the 1960s. After World war II, France made the island an overseas territory, eventually granting domestic self government.









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Created: 6:30 AM 2/1/2009
Last updated: 6:30 AM 2/1/2009