GEIC, Urban Tarawa 1968: Some Problems and Prospects (Bedford), 6.

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supply. No authority has yet been established although the Public Works Department has assumed responsibility for water supplies, and an engineer was appointed in 1969 to take charge of this and

related matters. It was not until 1970 that recommendations to construct open reservoirs near Antebuka village were implemented. Through 1970 and early 1971, Tarawa suffered a severe drought; water rationing was introduced and supplies shipped from overseas

to meet the shortage.

Local food is also in short supply. With so much of the

available land covered by buildings, little is left for agriculture. Most of the people living in the main centres are obliged to live

off imported food; on Tarawa, bully-beef, tinned fish and rice has become the staple diet of many families.

The problems faced by the fortunate few in employment are complicated by their customary kin obligations. They are expected to welcome and feed a never-ending stream of relatives who arrive to seek education or employment, to see the 'bright lights', indulge in the luxuries of beer and thrice-weekly cinema shows, or simply to take an extended vacation that may last for years. Bubuti and fakamolemole for cash - often to buy beer and spirits which are more readily available on Tarawa than on the outer islands, to attend cinemas or dance-halls or to play bingo - further reduce the resources of wage-earners.

Population increase and a rapid expansion of services on south Tarawa has left the island in something of a social limbo. Kin ties are still sufficiently strong to ensure that new arrivals and old residents alike have somewhere to stay, and something to eat; although occasional cases of malnutrition, caused by ignorance or neglect, come to light, there is no starvation. But, on Tarawa, family authority is starting to break down. Younger people, with money in their pockets and a taste for the diversions of Tarawa, are no longer willing to accept the authority of a parent or

elder relative. Drunkenness, juvenile delinquency and more serious crime is on the increase.

In one important regard the usual social groupings have been widened to meet new circumstances on Tarawa. Representatives of various kin groups from any given island who would normally have only minimal social contact, have combined to form 'island

associations1 which, in many ways, fulfil the role of the extended family on the outer islands. Not only do they provide coherent groups for new immigrants to join but they also form important political pressure groups on Tarawa and on their home islands. An average island association on Tarawa would meet monthly to discuss developments at home and on Tarawa, exchange news and practice dancing against the time when the association would next be required to perform in public for the entertainment of a distinguished guest.

With these island associations playing such an important social role on Tarawa it is surprising that the Government has not made a greater attempt to use and direct them in its campaign to improve living standards on Tarawa and on Betio in particular.

Some associations try to exercise some degree of control over their young people and occasionally an island association will insist on the repatriation of people who, through their misconduct, bring shame on the island community.

The expansion of health and educational facilities throughout the Colony has been part of a conscious policy to initiate change in the island communities in accordance with modern beliefs on the requirements for social and economic development. There has been some reluctance to accept change, particularly among the

Gilbertese, but because Government policies in the field of social services have often been the cheapest, rather than the best

possible, their impact on the lives of the people on the outer islands has been less than might have been expected. But with improved educational standards among the younger generation, a move towards responsible government at island and Colony levels, and attempts to rationalise agriculture, it is inevitable that, in time, the structure of society will be significantly changed.

Education

Despite the rapid growth of expenditure on education since the Second World War, standards have not risen as rapidly as might

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have been expected because, perhaps, policy has often been based on advice from persons lacking exoerience and knowledge of the

Colony's circumstances. And, on occasions, educational development has been effectively controlled from the High Commissioner's office and from London, with little consideration being given to the needs of the Colony. Such control has been exercised through powers of appointment and the control of aid. Within the Colony, too, policy decisions have, often by default and because of inadequacies in the Education Department, been left to non-professionals in the

Secretariat resulting, overall, in frequent revisions and even reversals of policy. As a consequence, the maximum returns

possible from the limited funds available have not been achieved; time, effort and funds have been dissipated on projects which have been abandoned or modified in a haphazard manner to conform to a revised policy.

In 1945 Maude argued that, in the future, people of the Colony might well judge the Administration by its willingness to adopt 'bold and progressive educational measures'. Although rapid development in the educational field has been rendered necessary by the expansion of the civil service and the need, determined by financial, social and political factors, to localise the service, there has been a constantly increasing demand for education as an end in itself.

Education has thus become an important political issue. Pressure for the expansion of educational facilities has been brought to bear by the Colony's politicians in recent years while, at the same time, decisions which have increased the direct cost of education to the people, or have resulted in the failure to fulfil plans for the expansion of services, particularly on the outer islands, have led to widespread criticism of, and

disillusionment with, the Government. The situation has been complicated by the participation of the missions in education (and further complicated by the almost total withdrawal of the

Protestant mission from this field in the Gilbert Islands in the past decade), the fact that the Education Department must work with two races, and uncertainty in government circles as to the role that local authorities should play in education.

Together with all other services, education was severely disrupted by the occupation of the Gilbert Islands during the war. The sole government school in the Gilbert Islands was abandoned with the withdrawal of government staff and, although some mission schools continued to operate, little progress was made in the absence of constant supervision. The Ellice Islands School remained open under local teachers throughout the period of

hostilities. While American occupation caused some disruption at Funafuti, Nukufetau and Nanumea, village schools, under the

supervision of their L.M.S. pastors and teachers, continued to operate close to pre-war standards despite obvious shortages of equipment.^

But the Colony has suffered lasting effects from the failure, during the decade following re-occupation, to establish and develop post-primary education. Policy, as it was agreed at all levels, demanded a rapid expansion of education so that the localisation of the central civil service and the development of responsible local governments might be achieved as quickly as possible. It was agreed that a co-operative teacher-training venture with the missions

would be commenced as soon as possible; that the Government should enter the field of primary education; that post-primary education should be expanded; and that, until the Colony was able to provide its own facilities for post-primary and more advanced secondary education, selected pupils should be sent to Fiji and New Zealand for further education. Two further expatriate education officers were to be recruited to fulfil these aims. It was accepted that pre-war levels of education would be, and would have to remain,

ß

adequate for the majority of the children in the Colony.

Initial efforts were concentrated on the government school, located at Tarawa in the pre-war years, which had provided the majority of clerks and interpreters in the civil service. The sole government education officer in the Gilbert and Ellice groups was given the task of re-establishing the King George V School at