91% of the population is literate. Schooling is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14. The schools are run either by state or church under the American model. Almost all children attend elementary school. About 1/3 goes to the colleges, which are mainly located at Majuro and Jaluit. The upper secondary school is being expanded with assistance from Japan and China. Marshall Islands has high teacher density.
Majuro also has some post-secondary education. Teachers are trained at the College of the Marshall Islands (until 1993 part of the College of Micronesia) at Majuro, where in 1995 a branch was opened to the University of the South Pacific.
In December 2008, the islands were put back into emergency mode after being repeatedly hit by heavy storms that put the capital under water. Majuro is just 1 m above sea level.
In January 2012, Christopher Loeak was elected President of Parliament by 21 votes to 11 for the outgoing Zedkaia. In September 2013, Loeak spoke to the UN General Assembly about the global warming that threatens the existence of the small island states of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean:
“Global efforts on climate change are falling short and low-lying island nations such as mine are already paying the earliest costs of what is fast becoming a global crisis. In every sense, the world must build for future risks, and too often, we are still setting course for current conditions. It is the seas that are rising – not the islands that are sinking. I will not concede my own country or my nation; but nor will I rest until my fellow world leaders have signed on to act, not just out of economic convenience, but out of a common responsibility of all to strive for upward momentum. “