Leifiifi College has marked Vocational Day with activities at the one-day celebration revolving around the theme “appreciate your God-gifted hands.”

College Principal, Sifuiva Malaea Lauano, told the Samoa Observer in an interview that the objective of the day’s theme is to get the students to appreciate their own talent and become independent after leaving college.

“The theme for today is ‘appreciate your God-gifted hands’ so the students will appreciate their talents, the skills that God has given them so that they can practice, implement the knowledge so that by the time they finish college education, they will be able to survive on their own using what they have learned at school,” Sifuiva said.

“So we know for sure after Year 13, these students will go to Institute of Technology, and definitely some will not be able to make it there. Maybe the fee is expensive or maybe they have opted for another field instead of education.”

The college will help their students to develop their skills, which according to Sifuiva could include cooking, fixing chairs or sewing dresses and over the long-term become small businesses that can support their families.

“So what we are trying to tell the parents, make sure you believe that your child has a talent, and we cannot develop that talent if we don’t get your support,” she added. 

“Sometimes students who have opted for sports don’t get the support of their parents. Their parents will always think of their safety and the expense. Their support is a must and is very very important so that the child can develop his or her talent.”

The Principal said students of Leifiifi College who did subjects such as food textile and technology, design and technology, agricultural Science, music and health and physical education presented projects which they have been preparing since the beginning of the academic year.

According to the educationist, Samoan children don’t have to become lawyers and doctors all the time as law and justice sector workers and medical practitioners also need dresses to wear and food to eat.

She further stated that in Samoa most of the people who come and work for the Government are from abroad which she claimed is an expensive exercise. 

“So it's about time we develop our own generation, our own people so that they can be skillful and be able to help develop our own country.”

At Leifiifi College students are given an internal assessment programme, where Sifuiva indicated they provide and prepare all the projects.

According to the Principal, this is the month where the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture [M.E.S.C.] will come and moderate the projects put together by students in Year 12-13, while the college runs its own internal assessment for projects created by students from Years 9-11.

Sifuiva further explained that all revenue generated during Vocational Day will go back to the school.

Year 13 student Lorenzo Pauesi, who takes the design and technology course, presented a project that took him three weeks to produce and comprises a dinner table and set of chairs.

He explained that he chose the course in order to help his family. 

The dinner table he made can be used by eight people and was designed to ensure people can maintain social distancing while sitting.