It is important receiving an education, then going back home to help develop your own nation, a government official from Western Samoa told BYU-Hawaii students on April 14.
“I want many Samoans to receive their educations overseas, when and if they have that opportunity, and then return to Samoa and develop Samoa as a nation,” said Dr. Samuelu So’o, Director of the Institute of Samoan Studies at the National University of Samoa. “I want all the people of Samoa to be equally competent in both the Samoan and English languages. Just be educated people and continue to be a happy people.”
So’o conducted a question and answer session with the students after briefly explaining his background and goals in his current role.
“Our institute of Samoan studies is very young, being established towards the end of 1999,” So’o said. “What I’m doing now is to basically encourage research on any aspect of Samoa with a hope that we at the National University of Samoa will eventually become a center of excellence in Samoan studies.”
Asked by a student if there is a big danger of the Samoan culture being lost, So’o responded, “I don’t believe that we are losing the culture. As long as there are Samoans around, the culture will survive, it’s a way of life.”
Certain aspects may fade away due to the circumstances of the time and environment, he argued, but the core elements of the culture, respect and love, are not in any danger of being lost.
Another student asked what new challenges are facing the educational system in Samoa. So’o replied that keeping up with technology and the developments of a global village are immediate challenges.
The Samoan people, he said, need to incorporate the parts of globalization that will be valuable and exclude aspects that won’t be helpful to them.
He added that the general mentality of Samoans 20 years back was to be "palangi (Caucasian) everything” because of the influence of the mass media. But he said that times have changed, and Samoans have a greater desire nowadays to preserve their culture and are proud to be Samoans as a "reactionary thing.”
So’o emphasized that the National University and Samoan studies program is “open to everyone” and is not limited to just Samoans and those who speak fluent Samoan.
So’o then turned the last bit of time to his wife, Ainslie, who is currently working as a language specialist for the Department of Education in Samoa.
In explaining some of the current processes in the Department of Education, Ms. So’o said the median of instruction is all in Samoan up to a student’s sixth year in school, and “from then onward, it’s 50/50 bilingually taught.”
She added that the Department of Education is having problems doing that because of the lack of resources in the Samoan language materials. As a result, fewer students are keying on learning Samoan. So she has aided in the development of Samoan grammar books and dictionaries for teachers.
Ainslie Marieta Chu Ling So’o, graduated from Hamilton Teachers College in New Zealand in 1983. In 1997 she completed her M.A. degree at the Australian National University majoring in applied linguistics. She has worked as an educator, researcher and author.
The University of Hawaii’s Center for Pacific Island Studies had invited So’o to “share with them the developments at the National University of Samoa and to learn from them” in terms of how to lead developments at the University in his respective position.
So’o earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Waikato University in New Zealand, and his Ph.D. from the Australian National University in 1997. Over the course of his life, he has worked as an educator, lecturer and now as a director. He and his wife have two sons.