A college principal has vowed to not let challenges associated with the current lockdown deter him and his staff from ensuring their students are up to date with their work. 

Itu-o-Tane College Principal Sale Faletolu told the Samoa Observer that it has been “very challenging” the last three weeks since the Government elevated its Alert to Level 3 and declared a lockdown.

He said one of the challenges his teachers faced was the short time to prepare their students’ lessons to do while they were at home.

"It has been challenging," Faletolu said. "I think compared to the previous lockdown we've had before, this lockdown was unpredictable and was unexpected. 

“So in terms of providing packages and learning materials for the students, I have to say that the teachers did not have enough time to prepare the lessons for the students to take home during the lockdown. 

"Also, we also did not know that it would be longer, the initial length of the lockdown was only for four days so we didn't really prepare for it to be this long.”

However, Mr Faletolu said he will not use that as “an excuse” and is keen on finding solutions to get around those challenges.

“We do understand that that has an impact on the learning of our students but there are ways in which we can solve the issues that arise as we move along."

He said instead of complaining, they should be creative and think positive as well as embrace, adapt and learn as they go along.

Harnessing the power of technology including virtual platforms is one way to engage with the students, according to the College Principal.

"Our teachers managed to prepare learning packages for the students to take home before the lockdown.

“But after the first few days of the lockdown, we were informed by our students and parents that they had already completed those assignments and were asking for more. 

"And because this is a nationwide full lockdown, we cannot gather our teachers to come in and prepare learning materials and assignments to be distributed to our students.”

Mr Faletolu said currently the health and wellbeing of their staff and students is a priority, in line with the COVID-19 protocols and preventative measures put in place by the Government.

"So we have discussed that it's better to utilise our virtual platforms and use technologies so we can engage with our students and make sure that they are up to date with not only their notes, but also with their assignments,” he said.

All the learning material and assignments for all the subjects for the whole Year 13 level at Itu-o-Tane College have been made available on Moodle. However, Mr Faletolu said they were advised not all students have access to smartphones and laptops to be able to log on to Moodle.

"The other problem we discovered was that some of our students have access to smartphones but do not have money to buy data bundles for them to go online,” the College Principal said. “The shops are mostly closed most days during this lockdown which is another problem.

"We've also had parents calling in and asking us if we can provide data for the students and as I said before, these are all new problems that have come up from the situation at hand, and we have to learn how to resolve and deal with them as we move forward.”

But Mr Faletolu said they did not want to let that become an obstacle to the students’ learning, which led to them using Facebook as a platform to distribute learning material, as most students were familiar with the social media platform and its features.

"But then again, some students are not allowed by their parents to have Facebook accounts or do not have phones to go on Facebook,” he said. “So we encouraged the parents who are on Facebook to join on behalf of their children and they can pass on the assignments and help their students with the assignments when they get them. 

"We have also encountered a few problems with that."