The 30th of July this year marked the second anniversary of the opening of the St. Paul's Academy at Tafaigata by the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (MESC).

We still remember the opening of the school on Thursday 30 July 2020 vividly like it was yesterday, due to the peculiarity of a maximum prison being converted into a school, as children walked around what used to be prisoners’ cell blocks with excitement that on the day of the launch were painted bright blue in the school’s colours.

In fact a week before the new school’s official opening over two years ago, this newspaper published an editorial that condemned the decision by the MESC and the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Administration to convert the prison cells into classrooms, and urged them to demolish the structure and rebuild from scratch to enable the new school and its staff and students to start afresh. The classrooms – due to their current building structure as a former prison facility – appear to be fire traps and are most unlikely to pass a fire safety inspection checklist. The old prison, prior to its decommissioning, held around 300-400 of Samoa’s most notorious criminals for 67 years.

But in the true HRPP style of governing, no one’s views mattered except their own, so it was business as usual for the then prime minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi who did the honours and opened the new school.

The school was to target students from Siusega, Aleisa, Nu’u and Falelauniu with the veteran politician telling staff and students that the St. Paul's Academy is “offering students opportunities for a better future.”

“Thank you for instigating a great initiative for the students who are the future of this country,” said the then prime minister at the opening. 

“It is a dream come true to establish a model school which consists of a centre for early childhood education, primary school and college to open soon. 

“This will be the first school where digital education will be implemented all the way from early childhood education, primary school and college.”

We doubt the former prime minister cared about the history of the school and its impact on the students, as confirmed by his speech that day. Nor did his education minister at that time, Loau Keneti Sio. 

Perhaps, it was more important for the two leaders at that time to tick the box of universal education so that the donors kept the taps of donor-funding running. That’s right Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) that guarantees “12 years of free, publicly-funded, inclusive, equitable, quality primary and secondary education.” 

We doubt parents in Siusega, Aleisa, Nu’u and Falelauniu were given the opportunity by the former Administration through MESC to air their views on the proposal. Or even if given the chance to consult would have opted to “listen” rather than “talk”, knowing how the ruling party’s leadership at that time treated dissent and and didn’t hesitate using all manner of powers at its disposal to crush opposition.

Over two years after the opening of the St. Paul's Academy at Tafaigata and we see parents of the students have written a letter dated 28 September 2022 to the Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa and her Cabinet according to an article published in the Monday 17 October 2022 edition of the Samoa Observer.

"There are a lot of things that need to be fixed and improved as our students are using the rooms used by prisoners in the past," the letter reads.

"There's no need to explain that the school is built on an old prison facility and was used by inmates in the past. 

“The decision to turn it into a school happened quickly and therefore went ahead with opening without considering other factors. 

"However, the truth is, the facilities are not safe for the well-being of our students."

The concerns outlined in the letter were penned by members of the clergy, matai and high chiefs from the villages whose children attend the school.

We saw this coming over two years ago when we published the editorial mentioned above which condemned the MESC and the HRPP government for the decision. And as we intimated above, Tuilaepa and his Cabinet didn't care about community consultation and in fact trampled on it.

So we cannot blame the members of the clergy, matai and high chiefs from the villages whose children attend the school for being two-plus years too late for raising this issue with Fiame in relation to St. Paul's Academy. The environment at that time was not conducive for them to exercise their democratic rights to highlight those concerns, on behalf of the families in the various villages whom they represent.

The Government should look at the issues raised by the community leaders and give them due consideration. First things first: demolition of the old prison block that previously housed the prisoner cell blocks, and in its place build brand new classrooms that the students and their teachers and staff can be truly proud of.

The former Administration’s sales pitch of the St. Paul's Academy being a “model school” for digital education in Samoa was an attempt by the HRPP leadership to gloss over the sordid darker history of the disused prison facility. We didn’t fall for it back then and obviously the community did not fall for it either more than two years later, as confirmed through their letter to the Prime Minister.

The Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Government is the box seat to right the wrongs of its predecessor – it owes that much to the children of Siusega, Aleisa, Nu’u and Falelauniu, who currently attend the school and continue to dream of a better future which will come with brand new classrooms and co-education facilities.