Tricky Tricky System

The first part of the year has been a little tricky. It’s half way through our first grading quarter (4 weeks in), and I still don’t have an official roster! It’s slowing down, and hopefully I can start writing things in my grade book by the end of the next week, but I still have kids being switched in and out and from class period to class period. 

Absences are a huge factor for both teachers and students, as well! I have kids that miss at lease once a week (when I only see them 3 times), and they refuse to come in after school or before school to make up their work! They aren’t used to having teachers with expectations, so they think it’s absurd that they have to come after school to make up an assignment, quiz, or test that they missed! It’s also hard to teach when so many kids are constantly absent. To have to re-teach or re-explain for 4-5 kids a period makes it complicate. Kids in the US miss maybe 3 days a semester. Here, though, I have kids that have already missed more than 3 days! It’s also seen as acceptable to pull your child out of school for a fa’alavelave. Literally translated, fa’alavelave means “trouble,” but it is a traditional Samoan celebration normally associated with funerals or weddings in which great family obligations are required. When kids skip school for fa’alavelaves it can be for a week at a time, and when you consider that half the island is practically related that makes for many fa’alavelaves. 

Absences, though, are an even bigger deal when it comes to teachers. Last year several teachers missed 40+ days of work! That’s eight weeks vacation, or almost 25% of school days! And when teaches miss, they frequently don’t call in. We had one teacher just up and not show up for almost the entire school year....and guess what?!....She’s back this year! Like I said in a previous post, my department has 2 people when we should have 6! They plan on adding to it in the next couple weeks, but geez! This is not to say that the DOE (Department of Education) does not have some great teachers. There are some wonderfully passionate Samoan teachers, but it’s very hit or miss. For many, the job is a paycheck, and they wait like a hawk to clock out at exactly 3:30 pm.  

This isn’t to say that I’m complaining about my situation, but the more I learn about the DOE and the education system I understand why WT is here. There are many problems in the system, and it will be a tough battle to fight. With a set-up partially based on corruption and who-you-know rather than merit, change takes a very long time.