Education in the Cook Islands

Primary and secondary education are free and attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of five and fifteen.

[1] Education in a Western sense began with missionaries in the early part of the 19th century.

In the 1930s, it was based in the Sunday School Hall, on the seaward side of the Avarua Cook Islands Christian Church at the main town in Rarotonga.

In 1975, Nukutere College, a Catholic secondary school in Avarua, commenced operations.

The Cook Islands Ministry of Education operates 22 government schools.