As is the case in most other Pacific Islands, formal education in Kiribati is based on an imported, predominantly western model. This form of education was instigated initially by Christian missionaries and then, in the early 1900s, by the British colonial administrators in order to prepare an elite few for administrative jobs in the colony. On the eve of the new millenium, this form of education is still the norm but has been made available to more students, despite very little growth in the economy, in order to provide employment for students when they leave school. The parents, above all others, desire this form of secondary education for their children, often at the expense of other forms of knowledge, such as vocational and cultural knowledge.

This article reports on a study of the range of aspirations for knowledge, schooling and post-school opportunities held by I-Kiribati parents for their secondary school aged children. In particular, the study explores which aspects of knowledge, both I-Kiribati and western, parents perceive as most important for their children to possess. It also examines the role of the secondary school and the body of knowledge that parents perceive the school should be responsible for transmitting to their children. Furthermore, the study seeks to establish parents’ post-school aspirations and expectations as far as employment and life chances for their children are concerned.