USP Kiribati Campus

Greetings from USP Kiribati Campus

Mauri and Welcome

Thank you for visiting the University of the South Pacific, Kiribati Campus webpage. I hope your visit will provide you with a glimpse of the campus, its formation and the types of courses and programmes it offers. If you happen to be in Kiribati, come and visit the campus. We will be most delighted to take you around the campus and have a chat with you.

The Kiribati Campus is one amongst the regional campuses of the University of the South Pacific. It has over 2000 students doing Preparatory, Foundation, Certificate, Diploma and Degree studies at USP.

In 1971 a USP Centre was first opened and managed only by Rosemary Cameron from a small office of the Kiribati Teachers’ College. In 1975, it moved to the Government Secondary School, King George V School and a clerk/typist was appointed to look after the daily routine under the direction of a Special Adviser, John Chick who was based in Honiara, Solomon Islands.  In 1978 the Centre moved to its current location at Teaoraereke, South Tarawa and Howard Van Terease was appointed as the first Director.  The Kiribati Centre became a USP Campus in 2006.

The Campus offers a wide range of Distance and Flexible Learning courses, face to face classes, arranged cohorts studies and Flexi-School Programmes. The most popular courses are English, Computer Science, Education, Science, Management and Accounting (Click here for full details of Programmes and Courses).  The Campus also offers a Continuing and Community Education Programmes for I-Kiribati (the people of Kiribati). The Campus currently has 28 staff and among them are academic, professional and support staff. (Click here for Campus staff list).

The Kiribati Campus is a special place of study as it is located at a quiet place on South Tarawa, the capital of the country. Kiribati is a dot on the map but it can be easily found. It is in the South Pacific Ocean, located within the area where the International Date Line meets the Equator. I-Kiribati are Micronesians and have lived in the islands for over 2,000 years ago. They have a unique culture that had contributed much to their existence and resilience in being able to continuously live on poor and harsh atoll islands.

The campus experiences a warm weather throughout the year and staff are friendly and supportive to students and guests. The campus is also an ideal place to do collaborative research studies mostly related to topics such as; political, economic and social aspects of the country, a contemporary Kiribati culture, the impact of globalization and climate change on the people and the environment and other related topics. The Atoll Research Centre is in the stage of revival with regards to its mandate so that it can meet the need of a contemporary Kiribati. Interested Researchers and Organizations that can provide support in this pursuit are very much welcome.

Being the largest employer, the Kiribati Government and Government-owned companies absorb most of the graduates (about 80%). The rest find employment in the private sector or NGO and religious organizations.

The Campus has an active Student Association (Click here to see USPSA), which was founded in 2006. The Association organizes programmes for students and represent students’ interests to the Campus Administration.

For more information about the Kiribati Campus please contact the Campus Director or call [686] 750 21 085.

May our Traditional Blessing of Te Mauri (Good Health), Te Raoi (Peace) ao Te Tabomoa (Prosperity) be upon us all.

Dr. Takuia Uakeia

Director

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