This article contextualises interview data selected from Fe’aomoengalu Kautai’s online talanoa with Tongan migrant women in Auckland for her Master of Arts thesis. From the women’s discussions of their secondary education experiences in Tonga, their place of birth, a particular theme emerged. They perceived the structure of Tonga’s secondary education system to be weighted heavily on senior students passing state examinations in the English language. Reflecting on their high school years at Takuilau College in the 1970s and 1980s, participants believed that current students would benefit more from classroom teaching and learning in the Tongan language.