This work is a dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Education, University of Southampton, in December, 1968. The author was Chief Inspector of Schools and Deputy Director of Education for the Government of the Cook Islands from November 1962 to June 1967.

The thesis is concerned with the function of education in relation to the contemporary development of the Cook Islands. These islands were granted internal self-government in 1965 after being administered by New Zealand since 1901. The purpose of the thesis is to illustrate educational principles involved in the emergent territories of the Pacific. Social, political and economic aspects of the Cook Islands community are examined historically and in their present operation.