Hosted by the Pacific Community (SPC), the Samoa SMILE (Strategy for Monitoring and Improving Leadership Effectiveness) training workshop in August convened key representatives from Samoa’s Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) to establish a unified approach to strengthening the implementation of the SMILE modules in the country.
SMILE is designed to enhance the effectiveness of school leadership by providing structured appraisal processes and improving educational outcomes.
Within MEC, monitoring schools and principals' performance is the mandate and responsibility of two separate divisions - the Performance and Development Division (PDD) and the School Operations Department (SOD). The training provided an opportunity for both divisions to learn and better understand the purpose and different functions of SMILE. This aligns with SPC’s ongoing efforts to support the rollout of the Samoa SMILE system in 2025.
Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Performance & Development Division in MEC, Faatamalii Luano, expressed her views on the value of the SMILE training in improving the quality of education in Samoa.
“I think this training that we’re involved in has great value to our education system. One of the goals that we have is to improve teacher quality which in turn impacts our student achievements and so one of the challenges we have in Samoa is that we have a lot of data, but it's trying to gather data and formulate it so that it makes sense for decision making is one of the challenges that the ministry constantly faces. And so, this training is helping us to see how we’ll be able to use PacSIMS to address a few of the challenges that the ministry is encountering right now.”
During the training, challenges related to monitoring schools and principals’ performances were identified, and discussions took place regarding developing a robust implementation structure that aligns with SMILE’s modules: Leadership Standards Module and the Minimum School Standards Module.
Principal Data Analyst of Samoa MEC, Regina Kelekio, shared her insight on her impressions of SMILE and how it can enhance her role within MEC. She stated that “SMILE is a blessing in disguise for the Ministry of Education in Samoa. It will take us to a whole new level of data management and make things move forward in regard to our work. Being easily accessible online with its user-friendly interface and features, easy retrieval of reports and appraisals, improved data integrity, and ease of data sharing with all the other relevant divisions are some of the many benefits of SMILE that would make my work as a data officer much easier”.
The four-day interactive training workshop allowed participants to explore SMILE’s reporting functionalities, test its application with real-life scenarios, and discuss ways to overcome potential barriers to the implementation strategy.
Team Leader for Quality Assurance at Samoa MEC, Savelio Ifopo, emphasised the value of the training sessions over the four days. “All aspects of the training sessions were very valuable for us and we will make sure that whatever we learnt will be applied and synced with our work and ensure that Samoa is the first to rollout SMILE”.
By uniting the efforts of PDD and SOD, SMILE is poised to drive significant improvements in the appraisal and support of school principals, leading to more effective leadership and, ultimately, better educational outcomes for students.
This training is a pivotal step in the second phase of the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF) initiative, aiming to strengthen the monitoring and implementation of national school leadership standards across the Pacific region.
Moving forward, SPC continues to advance its efforts in developing SMILE across seven nominated countries, including Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, with in-country support missions completed for Tuvalu and Nauru, and further visits to the other countries planned in the coming months.