Promoting information communication technologies in education in Samoa

The Government of Japan and UNESCO have agreed to partner for a project, Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education in Samoa: Developing Resilient Education System through Online and Multimedia as the Countermeasure against COVID-19 Pandemic.  The Government of Japan approved US$ 954,545 for the implementation of the project over 12 months.

Earlier in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the globe, Samoa closed the borders and schools. Since April 2020, UNESCO has assisted Samoa in connectivity, trainings and other means for continuity of education. The new ICT in Education project in Samoa will complement UNESCO’s ongoing work on a regional learning management platform and lifelong learning.

The Embassy of Japan which has been a long-standing supporter of education in Samoa. The support to Samoa through UNESCO is part of this effort. “As such, I believe the formalization of our assistance is timely. We are of the firm conviction that in collaboration with UNESCO, we will be able to develop and execute countermeasures in Samoa’s education system for it to be resilient in times of disruptions. The collaboration will also help in achieving greater coordinated efforts for integration of information communication technologies in education.”  said Excellency Genichi TERASAWA, Ambassador of Japan to Samoa.

Speaking about the project, Afamasaga Karoline Afamasaga-Fuata’I, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of MESC stated: “The task of inclusive and resilient education system requires continuous attention, however, with this project, we are going to be able to connect 20 schools to the approved online learning resources and promote use of ICT for inclusion of children with disabilities.”

The focus of project will be on schools will be on schools which are marginalized due to  geographical location, cover low socio-economic status, have gender imbalance, include children with learning disabilities and in general regarded as ‘low performing’ schools. Nisha, Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States said that “this selection criteria is essential to ensure that the project helps bridge the digital-divide in education and to ensure that most needy students are not left behind.”

The project implementation will begin on 01 April 2021.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Embassy of Japan: Junsuke SUZUKI, First Secretary junsuke.suzuki@mofa.go.jp

MESC: Nehru Mauala, ACEO, ICT and Media Division n.mauala@mesc.gov.ws

UNESCO: Aya AOKI, Programme Specialist for Education a.aoki@unesco.org