A power outage disrupted classes at the National University of Samoa on Wednesday leading to temporary cancellations in the morning and revealing the non-functioning generators at the tertiary institution.

Classes and other NUS operations resumed by midday. 

The outage reportedly caused by a fallen tree on power cables in Magiagi affected the university’s main power supply. With one generator out of service and another damaged because of a fire on Tuesday, students and staff were left without power for more than three hours.

“All our classes from eight o'clock to eleven were cancelled temporarily because the power just came on at quarter past eleven,” said the university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Peseta Dr Desmond Lee Hang. 

“We have since sent out a notice that all classes will resume from 12:00 PM until 8:00 PM as per usual,” he added.

Most students were seen leaving campus when the Samoa Observer approached a few of them at the front gate. They shared that their teachers had informed them that classes were cancelled for the entire day.  

Some parents were also observed picking up their children from school. However, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor reassured students that coursework would still be available through the university’s online learning platform, Moodle.

“If they have decided to go home early, that’s fine—they can easily catch up using Moodle,” he said, noting that it is only a one-off occurrence due to the power outage. “Besides, we’ve noticed some students remain on campus but do not attend classes, which is another issue we’ve been trying to address,” he added.

While, students who stayed on campus to finish school work expressed frustration over the outage, particularly those who arrived early for classes that requires power. 

Annarysa Ah Ching, currently in her foundation year, said she was surprised to walk into class Wednesday morning only to find out it was cancelled.

“For us who had our computer tutorial this morning from 8 to 10, we had to wake up early and come to school, only to find out there was no power,” she said.

“It was actually sad because we didn’t have much rest last night, especially since the power went off while we were finishing assignments."

Another student, who travelled from Luatuanuu for class, shared similar concerns and described how the outage affected her coursework. 

The university has two generators. The main generator was out of service due to a missing part awaiting arrival from overseas. Additionally, the other generator connected to a building that experienced a fire the previous day was non-operational, further compounding the issue.

“We suspect the fire resulted from an electrical fault, but we are awaiting the official report from fire inspectors,” the Deputy Vice-Chancellor said. “Thankfully, fire services arrived on time before the situation escalated, though there was considerable water damage.”

When asked whether any generators functioned during the outage, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor confirmed none had kicked in.

He also commented on the recurring issue of delayed generator activation.

“Sometimes when we have a prolonged outage, it has been an occurrence that the automatic switch doesn’t come on immediately.”