Samoan Education:

      Samoan education had developed quite rapidly after the 1830's. Initially, Samoans had no system of academic education. Everybody had learned from experience and picked up on the wisdom of their elders. In the 1830's, however, the London Missionary Society had landed on the Islands of Western Samoa. The missionaries had influenced Samoans religiously and culturally. The London Missionaries established "mission schools" throughout the islands of Samoa launching training schools for "faifeaus", or pastors. Educators within these mission schools were the "palagi" missionaries themselves along with island-trainees previously trained from the islands of Tahiti.

     The education that was established had no organization, formal teaching staff, administrative service, or set curriculum. This may have been due to the fact that Samoa did not have a written language at the time. The missionaries learned the Samoan language and created the "Samoan Alphabet" which consequently developed a new found written Samoan language. This was mainly used in an effort to translate the bible to Samoan so that Samoans could learn more about Christianity. Eventually the Maths and Sciences were incorporated. Since then, academic institutions have been developing in the Samoan Islands.

     Currently, Samoan education is undergoing various drastic changes due to the fact that it is infamous for having unacceptable standards for education as decided by the Ministry of Education and The Department of Education. The Samoan education survey showed that approximately 97% of children residing in the islands attended the primary school, whereas 68% attended the secondary school. The primary schools are maintained by the villages and districts. The village schools provide for four years of primary schooling and the district schools prepare their students for upper level education. Primary schools implement a bilingual education system where students are taught English as a second language. The secondary schools are maintained by the government and English is the instruction language of these schools.

Bibliography:
American Samoa Department of Education
     History of Education in AS. Electronic document,
     http://www.doe.as/District/1112-Untitled.html,        
     accessed July 22, 2013.
Maps of World
    Samoa Education. Electronic Document,
    http://www.mapsofworld.com/samoa/education/,
    accessed July 22, 2013.