A report by the National University of Samoa (NSU) says, up to 60 percent of Foundation Year students failed in English language skills.
Samoa Observer reports the data was in a paper presented by senior NUS lecturers, during the 2023 Teachers Conference last month.
Professor Silafau Dr. Sina Vaai and Diana Betham-Scanlan, said that the Proficiency in English Language Test (PELT) 2022 pass rate stood at 33.5 percent, compared to 40.7 percent recorded the previous year (2021)—a 7 percent drop in the students’ performance for that period.
The lecturers noted that the goal of the curriculum policy for English is “for all students to be equally competent in Samoan and English.”
However, data they provided showed that 7.5 hours is spent on Samoan, including poems and speech training, when compared to English (initially oral) with only 1 hour allocated.
This is compared to other subjects, where a student will spend about 2–3 hours.
Prof. Silafau spoke of the challenges trying to attract students to take up teaching as a profession, and described it as a “bus stop profession.”
Another lecturer at the teachers conference suggested that there should be intervention at the primary and secondary school level within Samoa’s education system.
He called for remedial classes for students at the primary and secondary school levels, and for the Ministry to provide resources and teachers to see these interventions through.
The lecturer pointed out that many students are being elevated to the next level of education, yet their academic results show poor learning outcomes.
He repeated the concerns expressed by a senior educator who warned that ignorance is the result of the education sector becoming ignorant, when asked to address these deep-seated issues.
