There’s mixed reaction to the selection of public high schools to perform the cultural entertainment for the 2026 Flag Day celebration.
Deputy Secretary of Samoan Affairs Vaiutusala Sataua Samuelu said on KVZK-TV Thursday that the pese and siva for Flag day will be provided by the public high schools.
High school principals that KHJ News talked with said they were informed at a meeting with the Director of Education Maefau Dr Mary Taufetee on Wednesday that the public high schools will provide pese and siva. According to the principal concerns about the late notice and how rehearsals will cut into instruction time were raised at the meeting.
According to the principals, Samoana and Fagaitua High School were chosen to provide the pese while Leone and Manu’a high schools will perform siva which would include sasa, mauluulu and faataupati. There will be a combined taualuga by all schools and DOE staff.
Tafuna High school is to provide a float and do a drone demonstration and Nu’uuli Vocational Technical High school is also to provide a float and present what students make in their trade classes.
Manu’a High School principal Faatoese Tauanuu said while she had concerns, their high school will try to do their very best in the time allotted. She said with the smaller school enrollment, it’s easier to manage siva practice for their school, but she understands the concerns of teachers in Tutuila, with the larger number of students to try and teach in a short time.
A principal of one of the schools who spoke only on condition of anonymity said all the schools would want to put on a good performance, but it’s not an easy task with schools that have a large number of students.
She said for sure instruction time would be affected. “We may have to cut 10-15 minutes from each class period to make time for practice,” she said.
A teacher at Leone high School said the last time schools performed for Flag Day they started practicing in November the previous year to minimize loss instruction time.
She also pointed out that they will need another 2 to 3 weeks to come up with a show to teach. And with 500 plus dancers it’s not an easy task.
