Government Moves to Tackle Failures of Samoa’s Education System

2026-01-25 - 21:09

The Government is moving to deal with identified failures in Samoa’s education system, reflected in poor examination results from schools and colleges across Samoa at the end of the 2025 school year. Prime Minister Hon Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, said a report before Cabinet reveals the extent of the systematic issues – including failures of changes implemented over the past 50 years. “The repercussions of those changes has led to the many problems we are now facing today..” The Prime Minister said too many changes were made in the past without proper planning or monitoring for effectiveness. Changes such as those to the curriculum, the setting of exams locally, assessment processes, and removal of entire year levels from high school.. All those changes without proper monitoring has led to poor outcomes, now reflected in student examination results today. The Prime Minister identified concerning failures in literacy and numeracy rates, confirmed through poor results for English and Mathematics tests across Samoa. “I’uga o le English.. faaletonu.. I’uga o le Mathematics ua matuā faaletonu..” Laaulialemalietoa said the problems cannot be addressed if they are not openly aired, adding that he is not ashamed to highlight these failures, and take ownership of the dire situation. “Ma ou te lē ma e ta’u atu Samoa le mea lenei. E tatau lava ona silafia le mea o iai le tulaga lamatia..” The Prime Minister said Samoa’s development partners will be called upon to help in all areas including the ongoing teacher shortage. Teachers are migrating or changing careers. There is also a strain on teacher demand because every villlage and every district want to have their own schools. Early Childhood Education The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of early childhood education, and called on the Church to regnite the system of Aoga Faifeau and Aoga Tusipaia which used to be taught across Samoa as soon as a child was able to speak. “Ia toe faamaite mai a tatou Aoga faifeau, Aoga Tusi Paia, ma Aoga Aso Sa, auā o inā na amata mai ai a tatou aoaoga.” Laaulialemalietoa called on Churches to work together with Government to help address the identified issues in Education. The Prime Minister said a School Nutrition program will also be implemented in the coming 12-24 months, with a focus on starting at the ECE (early childhood education) level. Scholarships The Government intends to expand the opportunities for scholarships and Laaulialemalietoa says Samoa will be reaching out to all its development partners to assist. The Prime Minister acknowledged New Zealand, Australia and China for the current scholarships available, however, he added that all of Samoa’s development partners such as USA, Israel, Sweden, France and others, will be asked to provide scholarship opportunities. Laaulialemalietoa said there is no harm in asking. “All we do is ask,” so that there are more opportunities for our children.” E lē o le Fale ae o le Anofale The Prime Minister highlighted the established school buildings, however, he likened the state of Samoa’s education to the Samoan Proverb: e lē o le fale ae o le anofale. It is not the physical outer appearances of school buildings, but the impacts within through the provision of quality education for our children that is more important. The Prime Minister concluded by calling on all parents to work together with Government and support efforts to deal with the education crisis facing schools. “Afai e manaomia se fesoasoani mo aoaoga a fanau, ia logo mai a’u ma le tatou faigamalo.” Send money via nbs Until 31 January 2026 and go into the draw to win!