University of the South Pacific's Regional AI Policy Reaches a Marshall Islands Campus That Has Graduated 358 Foundation Students Since 1996

The University of the South Pacific (USP) is jointly owned by 12 Pacific Island states, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). USP's Marshall Islands Campus, on Majuro, runs the RMI-USP Foundation Programme, which has awarded 358 students a Certificate in Foundation Studies since the programme began in 1996; a 2021 tracking exercise found 199 of those graduates working in the RMI economy, 159 of them in public-sector, government-agency or embassy roles and 40 in the private sector. The certificate is cross-credited at the 100-level with several US universities, including the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Hilo (USP Marshall Islands Campus, official campus pages).
In a 24 January 2025 op-ed marking International Day of Education, USP vice-chancellor and president Pal Ahluwalia said the university had been developing an institutional ChatGPT and generative-AI policy since 2024, describing the need for "careful planning and cultural sensitivity" given the Pacific's linguistic and cultural diversity (RNZ Pacific, 29 January 2025). He warned that AI platforms raise data-privacy concerns as they "gather and analyse vast amounts of data," and called for classroom AI to be shaped through "inclusive dialogues involving educators, students, and parents," for curricula to pair technical AI literacy with critical thinking and ethical reasoning, and for an "ongoing ethical oversight mechanism" to monitor AI use in Pacific classrooms.
Separately, in September 2025 the RMI Public School System launched the Rebbelib Project, a three-year, US$2.5 million initiative backed by the Global Partnership for Education and UNICEF, to bring Starlink internet and laptops to all public schools; Education Commissioner Natalie Nimmer said the goal is that "by 2029, every outer island school will be connected so every teacher and student is using digital tools" (Marshall Islands Journal, 9 October 2025). This connectivity programme is general digital infrastructure rather than an AI deployment, but it is the precondition any future AI tool in RMI classrooms -- including anything arising from USP's policy -- would depend on.
No AI-specific learning-outcome or adoption data for the Marshall Islands are documented in the available sources; USP's AI policy remains a stated regional commitment rather than a measured intervention.

Read the full analysis: https://marshallislandsjournal.com/technology-fix-for-outer-islands/