Turtle Island Secondary School
Evanson Learning Centre (ELC) is part of Turtle’s ongoing commitment to its local communities.  Turtle commenced operation of a secondary school on the Island, in 2002. Whilst there are three primary schools servicing the children from the seven local villages, until the new school on Turtle was built, no secondary schools were available. Young people needed to travel to the mainland to further their education. Consequently, retention rates were only 20% between primary and secondary education. There are over 50 young people at the school across four forms with six teachers.

Whilst on the Island, you will visit the ELC to see the Fijian students at work. Let them sing for you. The school has been built by, and is operated at the expense of Turtle Island. It teaches the Fijian curriculum, but also focuses specifically on Yasawan history, information technology and proficiency in English.

“The School is probably the single most important thing I have ever done. I am not doing it to be good, I am doing it because it makes sense and will improve the community, which will be as advantageous to us as it will be to them. I want to show the next generation how to be more self-sufficient so they can earn their own money and build a house that won’t blow over every time there is a storm.”
Richard Evanson