Education director Vaitinasa Dr. Salu Hunkin-Finau has told a Senate panel that volunteer teachers with the WorldTeach non-profit group are a “positive” aspect for the Department of Education, which is faced every year with a teacher shortage in the public school system.

Vaitinasa was responding to Sen. Mauga Tasi Asuega’s questions during the Senate Education Committee hearing Thursday where they were discussing the shortage of school buses.

During the hearing, Mauga asked for more details on the WorldTeach group, saying that some of the volunteers from this group teach at public schools in his district and they are very helpful to these schools.

Vaitinasa explained that DOE’s program with Boston based non-profit WorldTeach began about five to six years ago when DOE was under the leadership Taimalelagi Dr. Claire Poumele.

She says these volunteers teachers from WorldTeach have completed their bachelor’s degrees and currently there are 28 of them working in DOE for the current school year. She says almost all of the public schools have a WorldTeach volunteer teacher, who usually teaches the hard-to-fill positions in subjects like Science, Math and English.

Because they are volunteers, these teachers don’t get paid but receive stipends as well as housing as part of their one-year contract with DOE, said Vaitinasa and noted that if a teacher wants to remain in the territory to teach, a 2-year paid contract is put together for that individual to teach at the school where they want to work.

“This is a great program and we only wish that the volunteer contract were for more than one-year,” Vaitinasa said and pointed out that the WorldTeach program also helps these college graduates with their student loans, which are forgiven through this free teaching assignment not only in American Samoa but other U.S. territories as well as other countries.

“Our volunteer teachers are very helpful with filling the teacher shortage, which Education Department encounters every year,” she said.

Mauga asked, “is this a positive thing for American Samoa” with the WorldTeach program, and Vaitinasa responded quickly, “Yes, very positive.”

She also pointed out that if a volunteer teacher requests to remain with DOE beyond the one-year agreement, “we immediately change the contract” adding that usually 5 teachers request to stay in the territory.