Burnt down school facilities will be rebuilt

By Adel Fruean 09 January 2019, 12:00AM

Classrooms and facilities that the Vailoa Primary School lost to a recent fire will be rebuilt by the Government. 

The Minister for Education Sports and Culture, Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio, gave this assurance to the affected students and their parents when asked by the Samoa Observer on whether the Ministry will address the issue.

“We are the first people to look at during situations like these in terms of assistance, and so I contacted my CEO earlier this week for arrangements for students of Vailoa Primary School. 

“At the moment we are waiting for the process done by the insurance for them to finalize their report so we can look at areas of fixing up the schooling facilities. 

“So, hopefully in two to three months is my estimation of the time that will be spent on rebuilding the new facilities because at the end of the day this is the responsibility of the government through MESC in prioritizing education in our country,” he said in an interview.

With three weeks of school holidays left, affected students and their families have been waiting to hear from the Government. 

The Minister’s response yesterday will bring relief to the parents and guardians. 

Mina Vaitupu, who is a reading teacher at the school and is also a mother of two students, said the fire was unexpected and unfortunate.

 “We never would have thought something like this would occur here to our school and to our village,” she said. 

Leana Leatunuusani, a mother of three children who are students at the primary school, said they hope to receive good news from the Education Board.  

“We have had meetings for our Parent Teacher Association to discuss matters like this with the education authorities and we are waiting for a response. 

We are not going to make rash decisions on this matter,” she said, and added that there is the option of affected students transferring to nearby schools. 

Despite the unfortunate incident both parents are optimistic about the future.  

“What has happened was very unfortunate. But now we are looking to go forward and do what we can to get our school up and running. We accept all the help we can get. Hopefully with the assistance of the government and community, we can work hand in hand to rebuild our school,’ Mrs Vaitupu said.

By Adel Fruean 09 January 2019, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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