Students who participated in a competition run by the Ministry for Education on the importance of T.V.E.T. skills and won have been awarded prizes in a presentation ceremony.

Students from schools across the country converged on the conference centre at the Taumeasina Island Resort on Tuesday morning for the presentation.

The competition run by the Ministry for Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) was guided by the theme "T.V.E.T. for a brighter future" with Tuesday’s event attracting hundreds of students and teachers from colleges across the country who crowded the resort’s conference room.

Reverend Komisi Samuelu of the Congregational Christian Church Samoa (C.C.C.S.) parish at Fugalei led the ceremony with a prayer.  The Minister of Education, Seuula Ioane then delivered the keynote address.

Seuula congratulated all the prize-winners as well as those who participated in the competition before commending the hard work put in by the Ministry in organising the programme as well as garnering the support of principals and teachers of all the schools who participated in the event. 

Emphasising that everything in life is a learning opportunity and needs to be utilised properly, the Minister also said the M.E.S.C. is also engaged to ensure students become a part of this year's celebration of Samoa's 60th Independence Celebration. 

He said the milestone is vital and every student in the country should be able to celebrate Samoa's journey along with the rest of the nation. 

Turning to his Ministry, Seuula urged the M.E.S.C. executive to initiate more exciting and fun activities and programmes for the students. 

Highlighting the importance of the programme and its theme, he said it is the gateway for them for the future.

“The skills and knowledge they can learn from the programme can prepare them for the future and the different professions they want to take up,” the Minister said. 

"This is a great eye-opener for our students so that they can be reminded of the importance of enhancing their skills through education.

"The different skills learned and taught through T.V.E.T. programmes can equip our students so they can feed our workforce in the future."

Turning to the students who were seated among the audience, Seuula encouraged them to commit all their efforts to their studies and reminded them that education is “anything and everything in life. 

The Acting C.E.O of the Ministry and master of ceremony at the Tuesday event, Tuaopepe Perenise Tinei, said the programme was initiated by M.E.S.C. as a way to not only promote T.V.E.T. programmes in colleges but also to keep students entertained after being homeschooled in recent months due to the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Tuaopepe said the Ministry is trying its best to initiate the "fun programmes" for the students to encourage them to learn more while providing a learning opportunity for them. 

The M.E.S.C. competition was divided into different categories for the Year 12 and Year 13 level. There was an essay competition on why TVET skills matter both in English and Samoan for the two levels as well as an online video competition and tiktok competition.