The National University of Samoa’s graduation has been deferred and a new date will be advised.

The 2020 NUS graduation was scheduled for this Friday, March 27 but the event has been postponed due to the declaration of the state of emergency (S.O.E.) to address risks associated with coronavirus (COVID-19).

The NUS Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Aiono Alec Ekeroma, confirmed the graduation deferral in an email in response to questions by the Samoa Observer.

He said the university’s coronavirus evacuation plan was activated as of last week so the graduation had to be deferred.

"Since the state of emergency was declared a few hours ago, our pandemic plan was activated soon after. Both graduations (T.V.E.T and the big one in April) have been postponed to a date, to be confirmed," he said.

The T.V.E.T. graduation was scheduled for this Friday and has again been postponed due to the S.O.E. The declaration of the S.O.E. last Friday led to the university going into lockdown. 

"Campuses will close from tomorrow till the 4th April and students have been advised to moodle from home," Professor Ekeroma added. 

The students are all using their free BlueSky-issued data sim card to access their moodle accounts for free, which they will now be able use due to the closure of lectures at the campus.