Itu Asau College Celebrate Christmas Present from German Government 

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 23 DECEMBER 2022: The 2023 students of Itu-o-Asau College on the western end of Savaii Island, have received an early Christmas and New Years present from the German Government through its Consul in Samoa, Tagaloa Christa Szegedi.

The present was 17 new laptops and two air conditioning units for the Colleges Computer Laboratory.

Under the Laptops for the Computer Lab at Itu Asau College Partnership, the Project Manager Afoa Stefan Szegedi was invited to visit the school in October where he noted the need for laptops.

“In October we were invited to the college and saw that the computer lab had very limited number laptops for the students to learn,” said Afoa.

As a result, a request for assistance was put through the German Embassy in Wellington.

“These laptops will hopefully provide the tools necessary for the children to become successful in the future,” said Afoa.

He said since Christmas is a few days away, these resources can be seen as an early educational Christmas present for the school.

“The recent situation with Covid-19 has brought about many challenges and disruptions to the education sector of Samoa and I am sure also affected the Itu Asau College. However, we cannot let these challenges become an excuse to not continue the vital work of educating the students.  As a result we all must work together to overcome these challenges. We owe it to the students,” he said.

He said the German Consul Tagaloa has always emphasized the importance of providing assistance towards the education sector of Samoa as noted by their support and contribution to other schools in Samoa.

“At the same time it is also vital that resources are given to the big Island of Savaii, as they belong and will play a vital role towards the future of Samoa,” he said.

The Itu Asau College project is now the seventh assistance project in Savaii since 2019 and Afoa said, it certainly will also not be the last.

The Itu Asau College principal So’oalo Rikisone Selulo expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the assistance especially the difficulty of not having access to a computer lab.

So’oalo said this year they had a higher number of students taking computer subjects but the problem was the resources are not there to cater for their needs hence our request for assistance from the German Embassy.

“We are so great-full for such generosity. These laptops will definitely add beauty to the newest computer lab we have just completed this year,” said So’oalo.

The assistance facilitated by the German Consul, marks another milestone in the diplomatic relationship between Samoa and the Republic of Germany.