Samoa Education has undergone plethora of changes in the early days of 1990 and it has significantly improved throughout the years in terms of curriculum, syllabus and also in the recruitment of the teaching professionals.
Initially the Samoa Education System was not so strong but presently the adult literacy rate is over 97% and all this is achieved by the constant struggle in enhancing the quality education by the Ministry of Education, Samoa. Education of Samoa can be categorized in two sections and they are namely schools in Samoa and the universities and colleges in Samoa.
The formal education is imparted by the Department of Education and they have well structured syllabus and follows a common examinations. The faculties of the government school in Samoa holds Samoan teachers’ certificates and it is mandatory for teaching. The village schools gives four year of primary schooling whereas the district schools train the intelligent pupils and provides them education to the upper level. The Education in Samoa aims to follows a bilingual educational system with English as their second language.
The Samoa education survey in recent times showed that approximately 97% of the children attended the primary school whereas 68% of the eligible candidate attended the secondary school. The primary level ratio of pupil- teacher was found to be 24 to 1.The secondary schools are maintained by the government and English is the instruction language of these schools.
Robert Louis Stevenson School is a primary and secondary school in Apia and it is run privately whereas the University of the South Pacific is a public university and has branches all over the nation. It can be said that the Samoa education is basically up to dated and it abides by the stringent rules for educating the masses.
University of Samoa
Higher education in Samoa is imparted by the Samoa universities and colleges. University of Samoa is the topmost educational institute in Samoa. Education pursued by students in a Samoa university is preceded by education in the schools and colleges in Samoa. A university of Samoa thus is the ultimate educational institute in Samoa.
The two major and most well known Samoa universities are :
- National University of Samoa
- University of the South Pacific School of Agriculture
The National University of Samoa is the Le Iunivesite Aoao o Samoa which is located at Apia. The above mentioned universities are in Western Samoa. The University of the South Pacific, in Western Samoa provides the foundation for further studies in agriculture technology, information and research. The National university of Samoa has an excellent faculty. Events, seminars, conferences, library etc form the different features of this university in Samoa.
Apart from these two major ones other universities of Samoa include the universities in American Samoa. The most popular and significant university in American Samoa is the American Samoa Community College.
National University Of Samoa
The national name of The National University of Samoa is Le Iunivesite Aoao o Samoa. The university was founded in 1984 when the number of student enrollment was less than 50. Today, after 23 years of first rate educational service the National University of Samoa has more than 2000 students.
The Vice Chancellor of The National University of Samoa is Talofa Lava. The university has more than 60 academic, technical and vocational courses. The National University in Samoa offers certificate courses, diplomas, bachelor and post graduate programs. Courses in the National University of Samoa range from science to arts to technology to business etc.
The university has an excellent teaching faculty. The academic, administration and support staff consists of a total of 300 people. The faculty is responsible for preserving the excellent quality of education and research in the National University of Samoa.
NUS(National University of Samoa) sits in the midst of a delightful, pleasant and calm environment with beautiful views of the sea and the surroundings. The campus of the National University of Samoa built by Government of Japan has high standard and world class facilities and provisions. Virtual classrooms, webmail and a well equipped library are the services offered by NUS. Extra curricular activities form a significant part of the university’s programs.
Other aspects related to the NUS include news, conferences, events, seminars etc. which feature under the activities and current news of the University. The National University of Samoa has a number of faculties and schools. Different institutes under this university are located in various parts of Samoa.
Samoa College
Established in 1953, Samoa College was the result of dialogues between the Samoan leaders of that period and the New Zealand Administration. The mission was to educate the people of Samoa to prepare themselves in every field of life. Their vision consisted of their belief that education leads to self-government.
Samoa College is one of the best secondary schools in Samoa and the students passing out from this first class educational institute in Samoa are assured of good jobs. In fact many of the present leaders of Samoa have remained students of Samoa College. The Samoa College completed its 50 years in 2003.
The Samoa College is located in Apia. It has alumni called the Samoa College Old Pupils Association (SCOPA). It is the members of SCOPA who have taken up the responsibility of the Samoa College History Project.