Education
Education is one of the government's top priorities. Nearly 80,000 students go to school every day, where nearly 5,000 teachers teach. As provided for by French law, schooling is compulsory until the age of 16.
All schoolchildren generally have a nursery school as well as a primary school, including in the small islands, but the middle school route is already a difficult passage for some islanders. Although education in Tahiti was easily available from nursery school to university, an island of 200 inhabitants could unfortunately not do the same. The Tuamotu's sixth-graders are therefore starting to come to boarding schools in Rangiroa or Hao, and those from the Austral Islands to Rurutu or Tubuai.
High schools are only set up on the larger islands, such as the Leeward Islands or Nuku-Hiva. As for higher education, the French University of the Pacific in Tahiti, founded in 1987 and autonomous since 1999, brings together some 3,000 students from all over the Territory. However, since it offers only general courses (law, economics and management, literature, languages and humanities, science, medical science, technology, etc.), students, who are considered to be a privileged category of the population, must migrate to France or the United States to pursue more advanced studies.
This raises the issue of means, but also that of the school as an institution in the local culture. For a long time rejected for its imperialism and lack of practical involvement, forcing children to leave their parents to learn, the school has now become part of everyday life. The new skills acquired by the Territory now make it possible to offer curricula more suited to Polynesia, with the State retaining only higher education.
Schools focusing on fishing, handicrafts, pearl farming, tourism and the hotel industry have opened their doors to meet the needs of these growing sectors.Family
The social structure is solid and the family is the most important pole in the heart of Polynesians. In fact, the Polynesians are one big family, with a great-great-aunt or a little cousin at each end of the beach. All islanders have at least one fetii on Papeete - a member of the extended family - who is able to welcome and help him in such a big city.
Moreover, sometimes families live together in the same house, sharing their resources in order to live together a real family life, but without real privacy. Problem of money? Not only that. French Polynesia is already as vast as Europe, and the big countries and continents are so far away... You will certainly be surprised by the number of people who don't realize the size of a city: a frequent question, you will be asked if you know so-and-so, who lives in Paris. You don't know him? Yet, you live in Paris!Wedding
Traditional Polynesian marriage is very famous. Flower necklaces, champagne, dance performances, a dugout canoe ride at sunset and a romantic wedding night in a bungalow on stilts: nothing will miss the magic of this lifelong commitment. Many major hotels (Intercontinental and Meridien in particular) as well as the Tiki Village in Moorea, organize these ceremonies for the newlyweds. Indeed, Polynesia is one of the leading honeymoon destinations, especially for the Japanese.
As for formalities, please note that this marriage has no legal value. However, you can get married under French law, when you go to the town hall a few hours before the ceremony. Be careful however, you must be a resident of the territory for at least one month.Habitat
The housing situation is generally good. There are fewer and fewer miserable farés of tin and bric-a-brac, and even if it is still too much, there are only about ten homeless in Papeete. Family solidarity is still strong and the social system is well developed. The government refuses the transition to a welfare society, for example by refusing the RMI then the RSA, but Polynesians can still cultivate the land and take advantage of nature to subsist on their needs. The inhabitants of the islands build their farés with natural materials, but the government multiplies the aids to make them hard. Social housing often takes the form of MTR farés, made of light materials but nonetheless with anti-cyclonic standards.
It is in Tahiti, in the underprivileged valleys of Faa'a, Punaauia, or Arue, that the situation remains worrying. Efforts are being made by the government to ensure a more socially liveable situation, but there are political implications, as the underprivileged neighbourhoods are more inclined towards independence than the inhabitants of the heights and luxury villas. Throughout Polynesia, the population had access to running water, electricity, sewage disposal, telephones and, increasingly, the Internet, but Papeete had been completely rebuilt in recent years and nothing had been done for the underprivileged districts.Work
Several sectors offer opportunities to Polynesians. Those who do not work in Papeete go into pearl farming, fishing, copra harvesting, but also tourism. The hotel sector now welcomes a good number of locals in order to offer a Polynesian welcome to its visitors, including frank and warm smiles. Since 2018, Polynesia has seen a significant drop in the unemployment rate as it has fallen to 9.5% (2021), however there is still a severe lack of qualified personnel. All metropolitan people who have the dream of coming to work in Polynesia will thus have their chance if they meet this characteristic, but must also know that the cost of living is very expensive, both in terms of food and housing. A doubled salary in Polynesia does not mean a better way of life, except to move along enchanting landscapes.
