The two weeks of no classes due to the enforcement of the Government's COVID-19 Alert Levels 3 and 2 enabled parents to appreciate the roles that teachers play in their children's education.

That is the view of the Falefitu Primary School Principal, Taialií Pifolaumalesuafa Maota, when he was asked by the Samoa Observer on Monday to comment on the resumption of classes after the Government downgraded its Alert to Level 1 last Friday.

“We know it wasn’t an easy task for the parents, due to the two-week lockdown they took over the teacher’s role and workload,” he said. 

“No doubt it was not an easy-fit and now the parents are aware of a teacher's role, the work it requires, it isn’t easy.

“The parents have longed for the schools to be open and their kids to return to school so the weight of having to educate them at home can be taken off their shoulders, as they now know the workload behind a dedicated role of being a teacher.”

Taialií said their students are no longer given daily assignments, due to the lockdown they are given a package, which is a week's load of work for each week within the lockdown period. 

As to the number of students returning to school in this academic year, the Principal said there has been an increase in school.

“So many transfers of kids are being transferred from one school to another, particularly for our primary school,” he said. “Students of other primary schools and neighbouring primaries to Falefitu have been transferring here. 

“But the reason behind the increase of transferred students to Falefitu is still unknown so we can not comment on that.”

According to the Principal, some parents went to the school’s admin office to personally excuse their children from school due to COVID-19 vaccinations.

He added that their main focus or priority right now is to carry out their role according to the instructions given directly from the Ministry of Education. 

“If the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Education says schools are now to be resumed and permitted to carry out the usual school curriculums then all schools must abide.”

Taialií said the school had information that the COVID-19 vaccine targeting that demographic of the school population will be rolled out soon with the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) taking the lead.

“As a principal I cannot force them because we can only follow the instructions we are given for all schools to resume as per usual,” he said. “But we also understand their concern as parents for their kids' safety as they have every right to worry due to their kids not being vaccinated.”

And if the Government decides to bring back a lockdown, the Principal said there are other options available, in terms of assisting parents with the homeschooling of their children, through television programs, the radio and the website which is currently under construction.

“Websites such as Moodle that are currently used by N.U.S. students and secondary schools to access all their work from anywhere, especially their homes and to get updated with every day's work, just in case of an outbreak of COVID-19 cases increasing in Samoa we will be well prepared for the worst case scenario,” Taialií said.

“On the note of COVID-19 concluding in an outbreak as there is still a chance for things to take a turn because we are currently moved to Level1, we are not yet proclaimed COVID-19 free. 

“If that happens, we have come up with contingency plans on how we can effectively help our students achieve their educational goals from home.”