Rye teacher's bid to set up free university in remote island nation of Vanuatu
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Dr Bernard Leeman, who now lives in Australia, has taught at universities in all continents around the world but has always tried to set up a rural low-cost or free university.
He said: “I have, at last, had some success in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. There is a Presbyterian seminary named Talua, which has decided it must give its pastors a wider education to deal with social change and village development. Most people are self-sufficient farmers using local materials for building and clothing.”
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Hide AdHe said school teachers were in ‘desperately short supply’ in the country.
Dr Leeman said five years ago the staff at Talua, who have Master’s degrees from institutions in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, joined forces with students to propose a broadening of the curriculum.
He added this move was partly out of a desire to compete with the local branch of the University of the South Pacific but also to increase the proportion of higher education students in Vanuatu.
Last year, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu appointed Dr Leeman as English teacher at Talua.