The country’s teacher shortage crisis has been raised again in the Parliament with an M.P. revealing there are now more student classes compared to teachers.

Vaisigano No.2 M.P. Tapulesatele Tamasone Esera told the Parliament that the teacher shortage crisis should be addressed, and used as an example the Papa Sataua Primary School which opened a new school building in 2019.

“We need more teachers, last school year we only had three teachers, yet there are eight classes, this is an issue that’s ongoing,” he said on Thursday. “There is also a retired teacher that has been hired temporarily but there is still a need for more teachers for this new school year.”

The Minister of Education Sports and Culture,  Loau Keneti Sio, acknowledged the concerns raised by the M.P. and emphasised that his Ministry is working to maintain the current teacher numbers where they are posted.

“We also have students finishing from the National University of Samoa who will be allocated to different schools,” he said. 

“The primary schools are from Level 1 to Level 8 and if there are 70 students and there's a teacher for every level from one to eight, well, then there should be some consideration for the ratio of teachers to students."

Teachers who have gone into retirement are also welcome to return to the profession to teach, added the Minister. 

Three months ago Loau said the Ministry’s policy to open its door to retired teachers is not new and there are factors behind the teacher shortage.

"It is their choice, there are a lot of reasons why there is a shortage of teachers, we cannot stop people from emigrating overseas. 

“They win the quota and they leave – there are also those who have chosen a different career path.

“There are all sorts of reasons, it’s a huge problem, some have looked elsewhere for jobs, some do not want to teach anymore and others have been sacked due to their conduct as teachers.”

Talking about the new school building that was opened in 2019, Tapulesatele acknowledged the Samoa Government’s partnership with the Japanese Government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which enabled the Papa Sataua Primary School to get a new building that was dedicated in 2019.

The school received funds of up to US$89,224 (about $230,000 tala) for the construction of eight new classrooms, with the villagers chipping in $54,500 which they raised as part of their contribution to the construction’s overall cost.