Racial intermariages are commun and many Tahitians can claim French, Chinese, American and Polynesian ancestry. This accounts for the physical beauty of the inhabitants and the total abscence of racial prejudice, either from the Europeans or the Tahitians. Education Formal education is mandatory in Tahiti for every child to the age of 14. Primary education begins at age five, and continues to the age of 12, when children begin secondary education. There are several technical and vocational schools in Tahiti, as well as a large adult education program.
Vocational training includes hotel, restaurant, nursing and teaching programs.
As weaving was unknown in the old days, tapa cloth was made by women from the bark of the paper mulberry, breadfruit, and banyan trees. The boughs were soaked in a river for several days, the outer bark then stripped off and the inner bark separated from it. The softened inner bark was placed on a block of wood and beaten with a mallet. When the tapa was of a uniform thickness it was dried in the sun and dyed. Floral or geometric patterns were printed or painted on.