Xârâcùù
Xârâcùù, or Kanala, is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has about 5,000 speakers. Xârâcùù is most commonly spoken in the south Central area of New Caledonia in and around the city of Canala and the municipalities of Canala, Thio, and Boulouparis. Xarâcùù has a strict SVO sentence structure with few exceptions. Efforts to determine how the language evolved to the present has been met with difficulty due to Xârâcùù's lack of reflexive markers in established Proto-Oceanic forms. Xârâcùù has been taught since 1980 at the primary level in the popular Kanak school (EPK or Ecole Populaire Kanak) Canala, only establishment of its kind still existing in 2013, the students can then join public education. The language is also offered at the private Catholic college Francis Rouge-Thio and public college Canala.
Kanak people
Tjibaou was involved in the establishment of the "Écoles populaires kanak", which was taught in a local Kanak language and educated children in spiritual and practical knowledge, while including French and English language instruction. Since 2006, pre-school children have been given the opportunity to learn indigenous Kanak languages. While the Kanak languages have been taught in high schools across the Loyalty Islands and North Province, the language education has not been as common in the more European South Province. The establishment of the Kanak Language Academy (KLA) was a provision of the Nouméa Accord.