Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

Resolutions for SPEI and LP Plan Adoption

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): May 8, 1998 – President Jacob
Nena, on May 5th, transmitted to Congress Speaker Jack Fritz
for resolutions adopting the FSM Strategic Plan for Educational
Improvement (SPEI) and the FSM Language Policy (LP). Along with
the resolutions were information on the two proposed resolutions.

Nena told Speaker Jack Fritz that the SPEI plan attempts to
respond to questions such as: why has education not significantly
improved over the past 15 to 20 years? what has been the barriers
to improvement? Where have successes occurred and why?

The FSM SPEI development is as complex task given the logistic
and geographical and social diversities of the FSM requiring
an extensive research efforts involved.

The FSM Language Policy, Nena said resulted from a genuine
concern over the impacts of changes on languages and cultures.
There is a strong need to offer the children population in the
FSM the communication and thinking skills to prepare them to
compete competently the regional and worldwide economic realm.

Thus, the LP targets the goal for a child to competently speaks
and writes in one indigenous Micronesian language plus English.
The children should be given the opportunity and urged to learn
a Micronesian language other than their first language which
will in-turn promote development unity.