There is a 7 year compulsory school for the children from the age of 6. The high school is 8 years old. There are also vocational schools and teacher schools. A branch of the University of the South Pacific was opened in Port Vila in 1989. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Vanuatu.

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During the 1970s, most of the surrounding archipelago gained independence. It stimulated the establishment of the New Hebrides National Party in 1971 – today Vanuaaku Pati (VP, Our Country Party). It organized groups of all the islands on the basis of the Protestant church. The party quickly became the country’s strongest political force, and began to demand full independence, in opposition to the “moderate” pro-French parties who preferred to maintain the colonial situation. When the party in the 1979 election won two-thirds of the vote, it was clear to the British that independence could no longer be postponed. Vanuaaku Pati put forward a clear policy against nuclear weapons, making Vanuatu the first Pacific country to join the Alliance Free States Movement.

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During the same period, French and North American agents stimulated the development of the separatist group Na Griamel on the island of Espíritu Santo. It had emerged as a popular protest movement against the sale of land to North American hotels. But its leader, Jimmy Stevens, ended up receiving $ 250,000, weapons and a radio from the ultra-right-wing North American organization the Phoenix Foundation, in return for the new “Republic of Vemarana” surrendering the concession to create a casino and cover for other shadows activities.

Stevens visited France to get support from Giscard D’Estaing, and the French police did nothing to prevent the rebellion or the displacement of members of Vanuaaku Pati from the island. At the same time, the French-speaking parties in the other islands endorsed Na Gramiel’s accusations against the government of Walter Lini for being authoritarian, fiercely centralist and closely linked to Britain and Australia.

Ultimately, Lini, supported by forces from Papua New Guinea, managed to disarm the separatists and deport Stevens and his supporters seeking asylum in New Caledonia.

Vanuatu’s independence was proclaimed on July 30, 1980. Steps were immediately taken to transfer to the Melanesians the lands that had hitherto been on foreign hands, set up a unitary education system, and form a national army.

In February 1981, the French government expelled Vanuatu’s ambassador, Barak Sope of Nouméas airport. The purpose was to prevent him from speaking at the Congress of Melanesia’s Independence Front, whose headquarters were in New Caledonia. Vanuatu replied immediately: The Lini government declared the French ambassador to persona non grata and demanded the French diplomatic mission reduced to 5 people. The events postponed a planned collaboration between the two governments.

Government revenues are largely dependent on foreign aid. The country is a tax haven. Alone in the capital Vila there are over 60 banks and 1,000 drawer companies are registered. Nevertheless, legislation has not yet been implemented providing sufficient funds for the Treasury. One of the proposed projects is to make the country an international ship register for ships under flags of convenience. The country’s export revenue covers only half of the import cost.