Government of Japan and UNESCO are joining forces to support a project that will assist schools in Samoa to use information and communication technology to continue to provide education.

The partnership has led to the approval of US$954,545 ($2.3 million tala) for the Information Communication Technologies in Education in Samoa Project, which will be implemented over a 12 month period in consultation with the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture.

The project will enable the development of resilient education systems through online and multimedia as a countermeasure against the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The  US$954,545 funding for the project comes courtesy of the government of Japan.

The signing of the project agreement was done on Monday afternoon at the UNESCO office in Matautu.

The focus of the project will be on schools that are marginalised due to geographical location, cover low socio-economic status, have gender imbalance, include children with learning disabilities and in general are regarded as ‘low performing’ schools.

Ambassador of Japan to Samoa, Genich Terasawa, said the project marks another milestone in the partnership between Japan, Samoa and the UNESCO in Samoa.

“The introduction of multimedia methods such as radio, television and online to access education materials is a great initiative and platform that can enable an inclusive and equal opportunities for all children and students including those with disability needs at an ease of access,” he said.

“Thus, creating a deeper understanding and improving quality of education in many ways that will open doors to a wealth of information, knowledge, educational resources and training for capacity building of teachers in the use of new technologies.”

Mr. Terasawa said Japan is committed and engaged in international cooperation through the activities of the UNESCO to address such challenges and support in its current efforts of addressing the impact of the pandemic as well its development of a resilient education system through online and multimedia platforms.

The M.E.S.C. Chief Executive Officer, Afamasaga Dr. Karoline Afamasaga-Fuatai, said after the signing ceremony that when schools were closed they felt there were less staff and they were still trying to educate students while facing problems.

She said the hope is for all schools in Samoa to receive this assistance so that there will be no problems with the continued provision of education.

The Japan government’s assistance will also include equipment and training for teachers and students in schools so that education can also be provided through the internet.

The signing of an agreement on Monday between Mr Terasawa and the UNESCO Office of Pacific States Director Ms Nisha, marked the formalisation of the funding assistance through the National Commission of Samoa for its ongoing preparations.

Ms. Nisha said while the agreement was signed by Japan the end result would benefit the Samoa Government and its people.

She said they have provisions for two technical specialists who will be working with the M.E.S.C as well as cater for both digital devices and connectivity-related expectations.

All training and technical assistance that could be required for the project will also be provided according to Ms Nisha.

Educational support is also a major component of the Japan government’s official development assistance, says Mr. Terasawa and the Samoa Government have been a beneficiary of that support.

He said every year Japan provides five or six school facility programme improvements in Samoa coupled with funding to the Samoan Government or the international organisations.

Turning to the Ministry of Education, Mr. Terasawa says that the M.E.S.C is making a lot of effort to boost the capacity of teachers and acknowledged that quality education is provided by quality teachers and quality teachers come courtesy of the teachers’ training programme system.

Mt. Terasawa said he believes that the community needs to pay more attention and support their teachers so that the teachers can focus on capacity development.