Talua Theological Training Institute, formerly known as the Talua Ministry Training Centre, has a long history of training pastors and lay people for ministry in the South Pacific. Talua came about from the amalgamation of the Presbyterian Bible College on Tangoa Island and Aulua Theological Training Centre. The Presbyterian Bible College was opened in 1971 to provide a two year course to train lay people.
The Talua Theological Training Centre was established in 1977 at Aulua, on the island of Malekula, to train pastors for the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu. In 1986 the two colleges were combined to form Talua. The name Talua comes from Tangoa and Aulua, the sites of the two former colleges. Talua takes up its mission from the former colleges: to train lay people and pastors.
In 1993 Talua was accredited by the South Pacific Association of Theological Schools (SPATS) to offer a Diploma in Theology and a Certificate in Theology.
In 1998 Talua celebrated the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Talua campus in South Santo, and dedicated the Tenth Anniversary Coconut Plantation.
In 1999 Talua offered its first one year Mission Training Course, which offered a Certificate in Mission Studies. Nine students were equipped to become mission workers in unreached areas of Vanuatu. In 2001 another seven students were trained for rural mission and in 2002 eight mission students were trained for urban mission.
At the end of 1999, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed with the Church of Melanesia for the training of Anglican candidates at Talua. From 2000 to 2013 Anglican lecturers served on a staff at Talua.
In 2009 Talua began a Bachelor program, accredited by the Asian Theological Association (ATA). The first cohort of the Bachelor of Ministry finished in 2012.
In 2017, the Bible schools of the PCV came under the oversight of Talua, and now offer study at Certificate I level.
With the formation of the Vanuatu Qualifications Authority, the government regulator for higher education, Talua now offers a two-year Certificate II & III course of training, a Certificate IV in Foundations for Theological Education, and a three-year Bachelor of Theology.