23 May 2013

American Samoa to improve teacher quality

7:12 pm on 23 May 2013

The American Samoa Department of Education says one of the reasons for poor student performance is the low quality of teachers in the public school system.

The department says more than 50 percent of public school teachers do not meet the minimum requirements for teaching and it is often forced to hire unqualified staff.

In an effort to improve this it is working towards a comprehensive 5-year strategic school improvement plan.

This includes providing a fully qualified teacher in every classroom; retaining the highly qualified teachers it already has; encouraging Samoans to enter the profession through improved salaries and incentives; and better school facilities.

Earlier this month it was revealed almost 80 percent of public school students perform below basic achievement levels in standardiszed tests.