Education Minister urges parents to listen to their children

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Samoa’s Minister of Education who has recently been advocating the return of corporal punishemnt in schools is now calling for parents and elders to listen more to their children.

Loau Keneti Sio, told the Samoa Observer during the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that parents and elders should do more to listen to their children and give them space to express themselves.

“Our elders should respect the youngsters and they need to listen to what they are trying to say and the issues they want to pursue,” he said.

The Minister is the chairperson for the Commission on Human Rights, and said his role is partly to advocate for the preservation of the fa’asamoa when defending human rights.

He said the culture of parents telling children everything rather than giving the children space to share needs to change.

But he warns that it must be balanced against respect for elders, which is enshrined in Samoan culture.

“We need to make a balance in a way where we respect the culture as well…. You need to balance with the concepts from the outside world,” he said.

“Compared to the outside world we are much, much better and that’s because of the culture holding us together. People need to realise that.”