Remittances affecting value of education

A Tongan social worker says remittances have contributed to a culture of dependency which is affecting how people value education.

Vanessa Heleta runs the Talitha Project, a development and empowerment organisation focused on young women. Heleta says one of the biggest challenges to overcome is the lack of drive to succeed among many. She says the project recently had to stop a full scholarship programme because of a lack of participants. Heleta says culturally Tongans are family-orientated which spreads beyond nuclear relatives. She says this has fuelled dependency and over-reliance on remittances.