By Tupuola Terry Tavita
Government this morning took delivery of the new state-of-art Education headquarters at Malifa.
At an estimated cost of US$10 million (ST$23.32 million), the expansive two-story complex will house the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture.
“Education, along with health, are the two key sectors of any economy, the heart of any country”’ said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, in delivering this morning’s keynote address.
“Education is the key to unlocking life’s many challenges. An educated child is a lot more prepared to take on life’s many challenges than a child without an education – who could well become very destructive to the community and society.”
“And as the population grows and more and more students attend school each year, so will the demands and pressures on the administrative arm of the Education Ministry. Education and the delivery of quality education has become a very dynamic field and require the highest degree of professionalism.
“Thus the strenuous need for a professional environment for education administrators to work in, and what better place than this architecturally unique building to launch in to the hard work at hand. ”
“The ministry has been scattered for some time now – with several units being housed at the Teuila Hotel because there was just no room at the previous headquarters. A scattered ministry of course, will always be plagued by coordination and communication hurdles.
“It was therefore in 1999 – through a submission to Cabinet – that it was decided that a complex for the ministry should be built.”
The project, the Prime Minister said, is in line with government’s education policy outlined in the Samoa Development Strategy (SDS) as well as achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the country is well on its way to achieve.
Contracted to Fletcher Construction, the complex took 19 months to build and was funded by AusAID, NZaid, the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Samoa.