(MFAT); Hon. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa addressed the Global Education Compact meeting on Saturday 26th September at 3.00am. The Hon Prime Minister joined President Sarle –Work Zewde of the Republic of Ethiopia, the UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay CEO Microsoft and a number of different stakeholders and panelists to share with countries measures and best practices in responding to immediate challenges of school closures and re-openings with concrete examples on how the Coalition members are engaging in supporting country needs. It was also the opportunity to reflect on lessons learned from the crisis thus far and how they can contribute to rethinking the future of education
The Hon Prime Minister in his address acknowledged in the context of the current crisis, the emergence of impressive creativity and a spirit of innovation and collaboration to ensure that learning never stops. Samoa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been delivered using diverse technologies– radio, TV, internet and blended learning modalities but not without challenges such as gaps in familiarity with technology, lack of practice in using technology, challenges in access to internet and high cost of technology and connectivity etc.
Furthermore, acknowledgement was made of UNESCO’s leadership in the mobilisation of UN organizations, regional organizations, private sector, civil society and media and academia to launch the Global Education Coalition. In Samoa, the Coalition support includes a tripartite agreement among UNESCO-Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and Vodafone to provide learners free online access to education resources, free data restricted to curated online learning sites, and hosting of teaching and learning resources to enable simultaneous access by students in large numbers and distance learning and teacher training through the Global Partnership for Education.
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The video statement can be viewed on this link: https://rebrand.ly/MFAT-UNESCO
