The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative is financed by the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, which is administered by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
29.11.2021 Apia, Samoa – The Lifelong Learning Lab being set up by the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture Samoa under the Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative is well on its way to be functional.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) handed over the first lot of furniture worth of Samoan Tala 51,934.70 to the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Culture on Monday 29 November 2021 under the Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative. The Ministry is the technical co-lead of this initiative together with UNESCO and is preparing to set up a Lifelong Learning Lab. This lot of furniture will furnish the Lifelong Learning Lab to provide a friendly and accessible physical space for the education sector to access open educational resources and curricular material as well as carry out digital trainings and experiments.
Speaking about the Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative, Ms. Tuaopepe Perenise Tinei, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the ministry, said: “The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative supports Samoa’s vision of being a knowledge hub in the Pacific, and in fulfilment of Key Outcome 11 of the Strategy for the Development of Samoa, aimed at achieving universal access to reliable and affordable ICT services. The Lifelong Learning Lab, being established under this initiative, will help foster free and compulsory right to education in Samoa, which is a critical precondition for realizing access to information.”
The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative aims to help build inclusive knowledge societies through ensuring public access to information that allows participation in decision-making at all levels. It supports a number of measures from policy to capacity-building in access to information, open source, open access and from establishing a digital library at the National University of Samoa to setting up a Lifelong Learning Lab with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture. The Samoa Knowledge Society Initiative is geared to help Samoa progress on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, Indicator 16.10.2 on the access to information by creating an enabling environment for enhanced digital development. Noting the link between the SDG 16 and SDG 4, Ms. Nisha, Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States, observed: “A Knowledge Society is a multi-pillar concept and lifelong learning is one of the foundational pillars of a knowledge society. In Samoa, this concept being applied through this initiative, promotes lifelong learning for teachers, education policy makers, and students of all ages as critical for the attainment of many other SDGs. Digital development is possible only through the preparedness of the education sector and lifelong learning among stakeholders match fast evolving digital technologies.”
UNESCO developed this initiative in close cooperation with Ms. Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator for Samoa Multi-Country Offices’ cluster and a range of stakeholders.
For any inquiries, please contact:
UNOSSC: Ines TOFALO, Chief, Programme Support Unit, ines.tofalo@unossc.org
MESC: Nehru MAUALA, ACEO, ICT and Media Division, n.mauala@mesc.gov.ws
UNESCO: Aya AOKI, Programme Specialist for Education, apia@unesco.org
