A Marshall Islands senator has asked the government to urgently help private schools with fears many are on the verge of collapse.
Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro made an appeal to parliament about the schools' dire financial plight.
All but one local private school are run by churches and typically produce the best student scores, but constantly sturgggle to meet costs from the tuition and grant fees.
Ms Alik-Momotaro said one of the longest operating private schools in the country that was established in the early 1950s, has this month been considering borrowing to fund its operations.
Earlier this year, President Hilda Heine, announced the government would increase private school grants from $US300,000 to $US500,000.