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Many students not participating in on-line classes, Lt. Gov reveals

Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo V. Ale
“The hope of the governor and myself is to reopen schools”
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — With remote-virtual learning for public schools on Tutuila ongoing since the government’s partial lockdown after the first community case of COVID-19 was recorded on Feb. 21, a large number of students are not participating in these online classes, according to Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale during Monday’s virtual news conference.

Talauega, who is also chair of the COVID-19 Task Force, made the revelation when responding to a media question on the timeline for an administration plan to re-open schools on Tutuila and resume in-person classroom instruction.

It’s a question that has been raised by parents as school closure on Tutuila heads into April, leaving about two months left in the current school year, with school administrators concerned that students are not participating in daily virtual classes.

Samoa News received information that some teachers have actually gone to the homes of students looking for them after their failure to particulate in online classes for several days. One student was reportedly warned of not graduating this year, if the student continues to ignore online classes.

The issue also comes at a time when the Health Department says that the peak in the surge of community spread cases appears to have started to decline.

Responding to the media question, Talauega — who is also the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR) — said the local Education Department (ASDOE) is continuing to look at their plan.

“Most of their planning has to rely on the numbers of our surge situation here,” he said. “The hope of the governor and myself is to reopen schools.”

However, he said that “all of that has to be done in a safe way that protects... our teachers and our students, and we have to rely on the advice of our medical community, especially epidemiologists” on island and through the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“And that’s why we are encouraging schools in Manu’a to operate, because the mind of a child is a terrible thing to waste. And we have heard and seen studies all over the U.S and even here, in American Samoa, that there’s a lot of waste happening,” he said.

Talauega then revealed that: “A lot of our students are not even participating in online classes. That’s a real concern for the governor and me. And that’s why we’re encouraging [AS]DOE to prepare the plans to reopen schools once it is safe.”

And he continued to encourage ASDOE to keep schools in Manu’a open for in-person classroom instruction, “because there is no COVID spread in Manu’a. And let’s use this time for those students to be educated properly instead of having their minds wasted,” he said.

Meanwhile, ASDOE has been posting messages on its Facebook page regarding distribution of devices and laptops for high school students.