Back in high school the Samoan subject was also known as the skipping-period, it is the one subject that ensures the shades of the mango trees behind the school and the canteen were occupied during school hours.
The Samoan subject was not a priority for many high schools within the town area, to date; the same pattern has recurred in some.
Some Samoan teachers also consistently skipped the subject, used it as a chance to tell tales, dictated some piece of literature and at times used it as faleaitu (comedy) session.
Again, from experience the Samoan subject was treated as second rate, not one of the most important subjects in ones academic life.
So why the dire disregard for the Samoan language?
Literary priorities
In the current education system, your sure key to academic success is to pass the English subject, and best of three other subjects.
The Samoan subject is not included in the main stream of educational merits, unless of course it has a category of its own, and it usually does.
The prerequisite for entering high school is results in English and best three which is the same for SC and PSSC, the higher school examinations.
In UPY, Samoan as a second language is an option to fill in ones quota of semester modules.
This is taken up by lazy students who prefer an easy way out of studying too hard in another subject.
At most other levels of education there are speech competitions, debates and tests in English yet it is rare to see interschool or even internal school competitions in the Samoan language.
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Linguistic dismay
Due to this low regard for our mother tongue, naturally teachers and students alike have little incentive to teach, study, let alone concentrate on Samoan, after all, it does not contribute to academic merits.
The system was, is and will always be unfair as long as the education system places more importance on the English language.
Why do our students at the age of 12 have to learn all subjects in English?
What if the student has not grasped full understanding of English by that level, does that mean he or she will lose out on learning social science, science and other subjects as well?
As long as the medium of instruction and written examination is in English the education system is not giving young people a fair go at learning.
In the Census survey, of the current 21-40 age group, the highest number of drop outs in Primary School is recorded at Form 2 or Year 8, exactly two years after learning all subjects in English.
Unsurprisingly for that age group the highest number of dropouts is recorded in Year 11, which is the year that students less advanced in English and other subjects are streamlined to.
Literature reflections
There have been no studies so far to show that learning in Samoan is better than learning in English.
However when considering the education systems of other countries, say New Zealand, they learn in the mother tongue throughout their education system and only provide other languages as options later on in life.
Same goes for Germany, France, Australia and the United States.
But of course the US, Australia and New Zealand were fortunate enough to have the most widely spoken language on earth as the mother tongue.
Lucky for the French it is the second official language used in international circles, but go to France and they will tell you in their own language where to go if you don’t speak French, which means they will gladly forfeit a second language to perfect and maintain their own.
Yes, English is the universal language, but should we take this at the expense of our mother tongue?
In Germany, their literacy rate is high in German according to the United Nations, yet more than 40% of the population can still carry out a conversation in English.
The literacy rate in Samoa is 98.6% and in recent years has never dropped below 95% this is an admirable figure constantly hailed by the United Nations and other international organizations.
The literacy rate by the Samoan Human Development Report indicate the ability of Samoans to read in our mother tongue and not English.
The figures revealed in the Census report of 2006 indicate that the majority understand, read and write Samoan rather than in English.
Literacy experimentation
The disregard for the Samoan subject is academia is not just a failed administrative strategy it can possibly be the major contributing factor to the demise of the Samoan language.
As more and more Samoans become educated, the priorities of education dictate the survival of the Samoan language.
This is why it is of utmost importance that the Samoan subject be mainstreamed into academic prerequisites.
In recent years a Amosa o Savavau University, Samoa Primary School, and the Amosa o Savavau pre school were established with the sole purpose of educating Samoans in their mother tongue.
The concepts have proven successful with Samoa Primary enrollment at an all time high and successful graduates from Amosa taking up jobs in the mainstream workforce.
Bottom line, the model works!
These schools provide hope that the Samoan language be maintained, be used and cherished within the learning journey of a Samoan student.
Although the original aim of prioritizing English in schools is noble, to achieve bilingualism, it is not worth it, at the expense of the Samoan language, let alone the futures of thousands of students who missed out because they did not understand the medium of instruction.
It is not that English should be abolished as the medium of instruction, but rather that the Samoan language be relinquished as the official language of learning and that English be made into a subject, like any other language.
After all, the Chinese learn in Chinese, the Italians learn in Italian and the Russian learn in Russian, why are the Samoans learning in English?
It doesn’t add up, but you be the judge.
its good to read proper statistical support in this article...i was never aware of the drop-out masses and when/where. i am however aware, and slightly ashamed, to see the english language dominating conversations amongst our youth. there are two ways of looking at this - either with pride that they've learnt english so well...or tentatively, minding that they are applying the language in the right perspective. e ese le lelei o le faaperetania ma le malamalama i le gagana faapapalagi, ese foi le iloa mea papalagi ae o loo tausia pea tu ma aganuu faasamoa. quote: the Chinese learn in Chinese, the Italians learn in Italian and the Russian learn in Russian, why are the Samoans learning in English? it's a good question.
... written by Tausili,
March 21, 2008
Totally agree with Spags comments. The Maori community here in New Zealand are trying to revive there language. The Niuean community here in NZ are also trying to revive Nuiean language. The Maori & Nuiean community have realised. If you lose your mother tongue you lose your identity. The NZ Government are promoting learning two languages. I know some of my Samoan friends who can speak several languages yet can't speak Samoan. As young people we have to hold onto the Faasamoa. Once our parents pass on, it's up to us the future generation to keep the language ALIVE.
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there are two ways of looking at this - either with pride that they've learnt english so well...or tentatively, minding that they are applying the language in the right perspective. e ese le lelei o le faaperetania ma le malamalama i le gagana faapapalagi, ese foi le iloa mea papalagi ae o loo tausia pea tu ma aganuu faasamoa.
quote:
the Chinese learn in Chinese, the Italians learn in Italian and the Russian learn in Russian, why are the Samoans learning in English?
it's a good question.