Maere Tekanene

Maere Tekanene is a former I-Kiribati politician, and part of the Pillars of Truth party, who was the Kiribati Member of Parliament for the South Tarawa constituency from 2011, and the Education Minister from 2012, until losing her seat at the 2015–16 parliamentary election.

Career Prior to entering the political sphere, Maere Takanene worked as a teacher at the Government school in South Tarawa.

She stood independently in the 2011 Kiribati parliamentary election, Afterwards, she said that she was still considering which of the political parties to join, with her primary focus being on helping the women of her local constituency finding new markets in which to sell their handicrafts. She is one of three MPs for South Tarawa, alongside Teburoro Tito and Mareko Tofinga.

When President Anote Tong named his new cabinet on January 19, 2012, Tekanene was named as Minister of Education. She was one of six new appointees to the cabinet. One of her objectives in the role was to improve the sex education available in schools. She was replaced in the cabinet by Alexander Teabo on March 15, 2016. This was the first cabinet of new President Taneti Mamau of the Tobwaan Kiribati Party.