Education Minister promises Rabi Island visit after housing concerns raised

Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro has pledged to visit Rabi Island this year after acknowledging concerns raised by the island’s administrator about teacher housing shortages and wider education challenges.

Mr Radrodro was responding to claims by Rabi administrator Iakoba Karutake, who said he had “written so many letters” over the past three years inviting the minister to visit the island.

“It’s sad that, you know, he has been moving around other places and they ignore Rabi,” Mr Karutake said.

“Rabi Island was planned to be visited this year. Unfortunately, last year we only managed to go as far as Tukavesi to deliver a boat to Rabi Secondary School,” Mr Radrodro told this newspaper on Wednesday.

“Yes, thank you for the information. We are taking note of it and we will try to address the concerns raised regarding teacher needs.”

Rabi Island, located in Cakaudrove, is home to the Banaban community, who were displaced from their phosphate-rich homeland of Banaba in 1945 following World War II.

The island has a population of between 4,000 and 5,000 people living across four villages — Tabwewa, Uma, Tabiang and Buakonikai.

It faces significant education infrastructure challenges. Banaban Primary School, one of the largest primary schools in Cakaudrove with about 400 students, has only one teacher’s quarters, while schools elsewhere with just over 100 students have five or six.

The teacher's quarters at the Banaban Primary School in Tabwewa, Rabi Island.

Photo: Kaneta Naimatau

Banaban Primary School in Tabwewa, Rabi Island.

Photo: Kaneta Naimatau

The shortage makes it difficult to attract non-Banaban teachers to the island.

Rabi also has Rabi Secondary, the island's only high school, which recently received a boat delivery from the government.

Mr Karutake said the minister should visit before the 2026 elections to understand the reality teachers and students face.

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