Vanuatu’s Bilingual University: an Asset for Development
Vanuatu is a member of the University of the South Pacific (USP). Why create a national university when a regional university already exists?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – Vanuatu wished to create its own university in order to develop a training offer that matches the country’s priorities, as set out in the “Vanuatu National Development Plan 2016 to 2030”. In particular, these priorities are tourism (accounting for around 40% of GDP), agriculture, and the environment. Today, young Ni-Vanuatu can study at universities in the region, such as the English-speaking University of the South Pacific (USP), or the French-speaking University of New Caledonia (UNC). This regional pooling of resources makes sense in the South Pacific, as the region is made up of many islands. But because these universities don’t offer the entirety of their courses in each country of the region, Ni-Vanuatu students must study remotely or go abroad, which is costly. Developing a training offer in Vanuatu will make it easier for students to continue their studies beyond secondary school. This is very important, as the under-20 age group represents a substantial proportion of the population, and these young people are destined to hold key positions for Vanuatu’s development.
This university will offer courses in French and in English. Why has a bilingual system been chosen?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – The English and French languages are a legacy of Franco-British colonization. They are now national languages recognized by the Constitution, alongside Bislama (also known as “Bichelamar”), the language most used in everyday life, and vernacular languages. The choice of English and French for higher education stems from the fact that they are international languages. They will facilitate exchanges with the rest of the world, for example in the field of research. Offering courses in French will also help compensate for the imbalance between French- and English-language training courses at the university level. That’s because USP offers only courses in English, thereby penalizing the French-speaking minority (often estimated at 35% of the population, compared to the 65% of English speakers1). Finally, offering curricula in French and English takes into account Vanuatu’s linguistic particularity, thereby contributing to its national unity. In fact, more than 100 vernacular languages are spoken by Vanuatu’s nearly 280,000 inhabitants spread over 83 islands, making the country one of the most linguistically diverse in the world.
What about Bislama, the lingua franca used in the archipelago? What will its role be in higher education?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – Thought is now being given to that issue. We must keep in mind that Bislama does not have codified grammar or spelling, which makes its use as a language of instruction more complicated. However, it’s possible that Bislama could be used for some courses when deemed more suitable as the language of instruction, such as those on the history and customs of Vanuatu. Bislama can also be used during classes, as support for students who don’t have a command of English or French. These linguistic aspects are still under consideration. Additionally, a language training center will be set up to provide expertise on these issues and will offer training and research programs related to linguistic and cultural issues specific to Vanuatu.
What was your role as an international technical advisor in starting up this university?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – I took up my post in January 2017 as part of an international technical assistance mission to support the development of higher education in Vanuatu and promote regional integration in this field. During my first year I worked on the existing training courses – there was only one training program taught at the time, created in 2013 – and on setting up new ones, particularly in the hotel and tourism industry. As I’m a lawyer by training, my assignment also focused on helping to set up the legal framework of an autonomous university structure called the National University of Vanuatu. I therefore provided guidance in designing the project, in consultation with the various national and regional partners. This process resulted in a law, adopted unanimously by Parliament on December 17, 2019.
What were the stages that led to the adoption of this law voted at the end of 2019?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – This project is part of a process that began a number of years ago. University training programs at branch campuses were developed from 2013, in partnership with French- and English-speaking foreign universities. In 2020, 320 students will continue their studies in the existing bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, created on the basis of priority sectors for sustainable development in Vanuatu2.
There are also training institutes (for teachers, nurses, police officers, and others). Our objective is to support them in raising the level of qualifications offered and to enable them to gradually become part of the national university. This will already be the case in 2021 for the teachers training institute, which will offer a bachelor’s degree in education.
What are the next stages?
Anne-Sophie Vivier – The law came into force on January 24, so 2020 will be devoted to setting up the governing bodies and to incorporating the existing training programs and the teachers training institute into the national university. A new bachelor’s degree is to be created in environmental sciences, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science is under consideration. The goal is not to create a large number of training programs, but to develop those that correspond to current priorities. After that, the other training institutes will gradually become part of the university, and the entire campus will also have to be built to supplement the existing buildings.
This is a marvelous project for a country that is a member of both the Commonwealth and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Vanuatu now has the opportunity to turn its historical heritage into an asset for its development. This way it will have human resources that are not only more qualified but also bilingual, thereby differentiating it from other countries in the region. Moreover, because Vanuatu is a very interesting place for research – in global warming, seismology, anthropology, and linguistics – the creation of a national university will enable it to train its own researchers, thereby making national expertise available on these subjects. Against this backdrop, French cooperation will continue to offer its support to Vanuatu, and new projects are already under consideration.
Comments from Jean-Pierre Nirua, Minister of Education and Training of Vanuatu
“As we construct our national university, we have a big responsibility to create a high-level tertiary-sector training institution whose values and norms are up to international standards. The value specific to the National University of Vanuatu will be measured by the level of academic and professional skills of its graduates, who will be qualified in two international languages of the United Nations [...] It’s important to remind ourselves of Vanuatu’s need to affirm its place in the regional and international community as a new developing country that will graduate from the group of least developed countries in December 2020.
A university is a place of both great intellectual culture and international learning. The French and English languages are clearly identified as ‘languages of instruction’ in the Constitution, and it’s imperative that they be used simultaneously for teaching and learning by the Ni-Vanuatu elites of tomorrow. Bislama and the national vernacular languages will be researched, grammar-documented, and taught for business or for local and sub-regional preservation after they have been properly documented.
Finally, a bilingual or multilingual university is what Vanuatu needs to reflect on its own identity. As a place of social cohesion, a bilingual university provides the most inclusive environment for young Ni-Vanuatu who aspire to become international citizens and key players in innovation that will lead to change.”
1 There are no reliable data on the language distribution in Vanuatu.
