The National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) launched its TV station and its Lifelong Learning Initiative on Monday.

The N.U.S. TV launch event was hosted at the University's Maritime School Campus at Mulinuu, with the Commonwealth of Learning Scholarships - Life Long Learning Initiative offering 900 scholarships.

The caretaker Minister of Education Sports and Culture, Loau Keneti Sio stated in his opening address that the launch of the education sector tv broadcast and station will provide added value in the delivery of education for their sector.

Loau added that TV broadcasting with this broad coverage, will enable access to learning from all corners of the country and ensure no child is left behind.

"This media platform will also provide a vehicle for staff training programmes and community outreach for publicising education sector events and initiatives as well as the dissemination of important notices and documents," he said.

He applauded the initiative between N.U.S. and the Commonwealth of Learning for the much-needed scholarships for learning opportunities from Google, Coursera and UDEMY.

"I am told that 900 online learning opportunities will be made available over a period of three years to study online from a wide range of courses," he said. 

Loau further stated that the programme will provide educational opportunities to those who have been removed from these opportunities through the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He added that it will also provide new skills in areas of great demand in Samoa.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer on Monday, the Vice-Chancellor and President of N.U.S., Aiono Professor Alec Ekeroma said that it is a fantastic achievement by N.U.S. to lead the development of education television. 

He hopes that the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C) will join them in this venture to make it financially viable in to the future. 

"But I know they are going through the internal processes and I am sure they will join us eventually," Aiono said.

"This is an important milestone for N.U.S. We have the expertise, we have the experience. 

"As you know we’ve had the N.U.S. TV on Facebook for quite a while now and so that's how our team have actually developed the expertise in delivering, not only in the production of TV shows but also in delivering a programme."

He confirmed students will be part of the N.U.S. TV as there will be different programmes available for broadcast. 

"A student member is on the management committee of the TV. So there's a management committee that overlooks the general management of the TV station but also to look at programming as well to make sure that programmes are fair, that the programmes meet ethical broadcasting standards and to make sure that they are appropriate for the targeted audience," he said. 

The TV station is based on campus and it is Samoa Digital Communication Limited (S.D.C.L.) who puts it online, according to Aiono, and will be available all over Samoa on Channel 8.

He said that funding is important and they are looking at potential partners that will enable them to continue the programmes past 10pm.

With an archive of N.U.S. footage available from previous years, they will also be able to replay these on the TV channel. 

He also stated that there is competition in showing news and mentioned other private TV stations, such as TV1 and TV3, but said that they will be looking at the content of different news agencies and decide what is more relevant for the N.U.S audience. 

Aiono added that they are not a commercial TV Station, but a community TV Station. 

With 900 scholarships available through the recently launched initiative, people will be able to study online which Aiono explained could be from some of the top universities in the world. 

He said that N.U.S. is looking at cross crediting the credits from the online programmes towards a degree. 

The reason for the partnership is to bring a wealth of learning into Samoa, according to Aiono, as the Commonwealth of Learning have the expertise and resources to deliver the programmes.