1899-1914
Under the German Administration, on April 1, 1900, education for 6-12-year-olds was made compulsory on Saipan.*
Schools were established on Rota and Garapan and Tanapag on Saipan. Books were designed and written for Chamorros. The Germans were more progressive: they allowed Chamorro and Carolinian as the languages of instruction instead of German which they offered as an optional language course for adults. English, however, was discouraged to be taught. During this time, education made possible the emergence of a new social class: Chamorro elite. (Humanities Council’s Teacher’s Institute, 2007)
1914-1944
It took a different turn during the Japanese period. Education was “segregated” and “discriminatory”. Only those with Japanese bloodline were allowed to obtain an eight-year education — Shogakko — as they would in Japan. Chamorros and Carolinians could only go as high as third grade — Kokakko.
Half of the time spent in the classroom went to the teaching of Nihongo and the other half in the teaching of math, geography, gymnastics, handicrafts and moral education.
Special students, however, could enjoy two additional years with the top students sent to Palau for trade school. ((Humanities Council’s Teacher’s Institute, 2007)
Then war came. Families hid in caves and in underground shelters. Schools were closed.
Post World War II
After the island of Saipan had been secured following the American invasion in 1944, the education program began in August.
The U.S. military administration allowed informal schooling at Camp Susupe in August 1944.
Schools opened in October of the same year with the curriculum that included language, singing, handicraft, gardening, swimming, games and calisthenics. There was Scripture reading for Chamorros and Koreans.
1945
By September 1945, there were 4,224 students attending classes.
Vocational education was also offered replete with a 10-acre farm, tractor, plows, hand tools, and buildings. [History of the Northern Mariana Islands]
After the war, there was only one school on Saipan: Chalan Kanoa School. The elementary school had six grades while the intermediate section had three grades. For students wanting to obtain higher education, some go to Pacific Islands Central School in Chuuk or on Guam.
Chalan Kanoa Elementary School was established in 1945 under the U.S. Naval Administration.
There were no public high schools at the time.
1946
In May 1946, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands government issued a May 1946 directive that called for a uniform public education in Micronesia that would help the Micronesians become more self-reliant.
The proposed uniform public education would encourage agriculture, mechanical arts and local trade, and instill respect for and loyalty to the United States by teaching the history, customs and ideals of America.
1949
The Birth of Secondary Education
In September 1949 secondary education was introduced in the Marianas District with the establishment of Saipan Intermediate School. It offered classes for Grades 7-9.
It initially shared campus with Chalan Kanoa Elementary School until it relocated to its Chalan Piao campus in 1952. Classes were held in Quonset huts and the original curriculum included arithmetic, English, native languages, science, history, geography, domestic arts, crafts, vocational training, and music.
Near Tuturam Beach on Saipan rose a multi-grade school room for about 15 students.
On Tinian, the first elementary school was established in one of the Quonset Huts at the Camp Chulu Naval Administration area where the Yap Chamorros were housed, now called Old (San Jose) Village. Among those who rose to the challenge and became first teachers was Tan Magdalena Manglona Hofschneider who could speak English.
1950s
By the 1950s, schools began opening in the islands one after the other.
In San Roque Village, Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School was established in 1951.
Oleai Elementary School was built in 1958 in San Jose Village on Saipan.
Then Saipan Intermediate School in Chalan Piao was renamed Hopwood Intermediate School in honor of U.S. Navy Commanding Officer of the Northern Marianas Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood.
1960s
The Solomon Report in the 1960s led to the changes in policy in the Trust Territory districts.
In the 1960s, more money flowed into the Trust Territory for construction of schools.
There was emphasis on the system of education designed to provide a permanent value to the youth of Micronesia and intended to equip them to live better within the framework of their own society. [Statement of U.S. Special Representative Delmas Nucker to the U.N. Trusteeship Council in April 1960.]
A policy was instituted in subsidizing elementary school teachers’ salaries. For the first time, funds were budgeted to permit the Trust Territory Government to assist the districts in the payment of elementary school teacher salaries.
The Code of the Trust Territory was changed to lower the elementary school entrance age from 8 years to 7 years. [U.S. Department of State Bulletin August 1962]
English became the medium of instruction.
Tanapag Elementary School opened its doors to the residents in the area of Tanapag Harbor, Lower Base Industrial Park and As Mahetog.
In 1962, Hopwood Intermediate School became Hopwood Junior High School.
Garapan Elementary School was established in 1967.
1970s
School Construction Accelerated in the 1970s.
A team of experts headed by Dr. Paul Cook of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology visited the territory at the request of the Secretary of the Interior and the High Commissioner.
At their recommendation, school construction accelerated and saw the need to build 100 additional classrooms.
Curriculum was enhanced by territory-wide workshops.
It was in the 1970s when the districts began voting to end the trustee relationship with the U.S. In 1986 the U.S. notified the U.N. that its obligations were fulfilled. The U.N. officially dissolved the Trust Territory in 1990.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands became a self-governing district.
Autonomy in public education began.
1980s
First ‘Record Movement’
With the CNMI’s cessation from the U.N. trusteeship administration, the first “recorded” concrete movement in public education was in 1983 when Public Law 3-43 was enacted. The act “initially” established the Public School System or the “Education Act of 1983.”
P.L. 3-43 was to provide for an education system in the Northern Marianas: it created the Public School System, the Board of Education/Board of Regents, and the Northern Marianas College.
