A family has given the thumbs up to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture’s televised school lessons programme, saying they are beginning to see its benefits on their children.

A mother of two who has two children in Years 4 and 7, Lauren Teri, told Samoa Observer that her children only watch TV when their educational programmes are being broadcasted.

"My kids only watch television during the education programs. They watch the TV Upu Mana everyday whenever their classes are on. With my daughter's teachers teaching on television I am assured that she understands everything that's being taught on TV," she said.

"It is also a good thing that they also do live (stream) on Facebook too because the majority of Samoa has access to social media. I take my hat off the Minister and also the M.E.S.C. people for using this platform to reach out to our kids.”

Mrs Teri’s children are not allowed to watch TV during the weekdays, but that house rule changed with the MESC announced that the school children’s classes will be televised and broadcast online.

"My kids were shocked when I turned on the television on Monday morning and called them to come watch, they thought it was a cartoon on television but they came and it was school stuff. My daughter recognised one of her teachers so they both sat down with their books and did their work," she added. 

When the televised educational programme gets underway, Mrs Teri said she sits with them and supervises their work to ensure they are learning or assists them if they have questions.

The TV will be switched off at the end of the programme and she then rehashes the summary of their lessons for that day with them. 

"They are really enjoying these educational programs and it is a very good call especially when our lockdown was extended for another four weeks, parents should try and get their kids to watch these lessons on television because it has been very helpful for my kids," she added.

Mrs Teri appealed to parents to ensure they are supervising their children while they are doing their televised lessons, as some of them will need more detailed explanations over the course of the programme.