Students spell way to the top

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 01 August 2018, 12:00AM

Students from Vaimea Primary School and Faleata College are the pride of the Faleata District after taking out the Samoa national spelling competition last month.

Faleata District School inspector, Vaiaso Finau-Poulo told the Samoa Observer that these results were a fantastic boost for their district and will motivate their students to aim for excellence.  

“It’s a milestone for the district and it raises the morale of the students,” said Vaiaso. 

“It gives them the encouragement in that they have the same opportunity, the same accessibility as all the other private, missionary and other government primary and secondary schools on the island."

“It’s a marvelous achievement for them, it promotes their level of interest and it gives them encouragement that they can achieve high, it doesn’t matter where and who they are. As for the Ministry of Education, this is one of their core values and essential role is to give everyone equal opportunity to succeed.”

Vaiaso praised the collaborative work of the school teaching staff, leaders and the community for investing into their students’ academic achievements. 

“It’s marvelous the role that teachers are performing even though we are experiencing the same problems that every school go through with regards to shortage of teachers, but they are trying their best,” said Vaiaso. “We are supporting the collaboration between school management, teachers and support from the community." 

“It’s everyone’s responsibility that the students have the quality education. I thank teachers from the bottom of my heart because this is their hard work. They are putting in 100 percent in making sure that their students are achieving the quality education they need.”

Vaimea Primary school teacher, Aukuso Ualesi, who has been teaching for 11 years, said their students worked hard to prepare for the spelling bee, dedicating half an hour after school every day to practice their words. 

Faleata College teachers, Faatuiese Manu and Semiperive Iupati Lagaaia were filled with pride having won the spelling competition for the second year in a row. 

Semiperive said it helps that their students are avid readers and that this win is much more than a spelling competition.

 “We push our kids and encourage them to do their studies, it’s not just about the spelling, and this helps them in all areas of their academic lives. We see the results of the impact that these types of activities have because most of the students in Year 10 that won the spelling competition last year skipped to Year 12,” Semiperive said. 

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 01 August 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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