Samoa



NationalAnthems.info's page on The Banner of Freedom - includes MIDI version of anthem. 

BACKGROUND
Samoa is located east of the international dateline and south of the equator, about halfway between Hawai‘i and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The Samoa's are of volcanic origin, and the total land area is 2934 km² (slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Rhode Island), consisting of the two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i which account for 99% of the total land area, and eight small islets: the three islets in the Apolima Strait (Manono, Apolima and Nu'ulopa), the four Aleipata Islands off the eastern end of Upolu (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Namua, and Fanuatapu), and Nu'usafe'e (less than 0.01 km² in area and about 1.4 km off the south coast of Upolu at the village of Vaovai). While all of the islands have volcanic origins, only Savai'i has had recent eruptions and could be considered volcanically active: the last major eruption occurred in the 1700s, and smaller eruptions occurred between 1904 - 1906. The highest point in Samoa is Mauga Silisili, at 1858 m. The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of Samoa's population, and its capital city is Apia. The climate is tropical, with an average annual temperature of 26.5 °C, and a rainy season from November to April.

ECONOMY
The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, private family remittances from overseas, and agricultural exports. The country is vulnerable to devastating cyclones. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labour force, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, noni (juice of the nonu fruit, as it is known in Samoan), and copra.Outside of a large automotive wire-harness factory (Yazaki Corporation), the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism is an expanding sector; more than 70,000 tourists visited the islands in 1996. The Samoan government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline.

NATIONAL ICT POLICY
National ICT Policy

ICT IN EDUCATION
ICT In Education

INTRODUCTION
The development of online educational resources is in its early days with initiatives spearheaded mainly by the National University of Samoa. National initiatives in this area include:

(a) Schoolnet Project Portal development within the Minsitry of education

(b) VUSSC development of online content workshops (National University of Samoa)

(c) Virtual classrooms at the National University of Samoa

(d) Asia Pacific Initiative National Univerisity of Samoa

Building capacity for developing quality educational resources

 * 1) Workshops for WikiEducator
 * 2)  Workshops for ICT skills

Current Projects

 * 1) /Virtual Classrooms/
 * 2) /Asia Pacific Inititiative/
 * 3) The VUSSC bootcamp on disaster management  Samoa- 12th - 28th November 2007
 * 4) Schoolnet workshops by Joris Kormen
 * 5)  The Learn4Content Samoa workshops
 * Samoa Learning4Content Workshop 1
 * Samoa Learning4Content Workshop 2
 * Samoa Learning4Content Workshop 3
 * 1) /Development of NUS ODL Policy/
 * 2) /Planning and Development of National Samoa Chapter of Wikieducator/

Proposed Projects

 * 1) | Launch of FLOSS4EduPacific Chapter
 * 2) Identifying free resources that can be accessed through Wiki
 * 3) /Brainstorm planning sessions/

WIKI AMBASSADORS
| What is a Wiki Ambassador?

 We are:
 * Guiding and sharing new developments on WikiEducator with colleagues and in the Wiki community

WIKI NEIGHBOUR
WIKI NEIGHBOUR We are Wiki Neigbours

| What is a Wiki Neighbor?

We are:


 * promoting WikiEducator in the local and international community by inviting people to join activities or directing them them to specific Wiki activities on WikiEducator

NUS VUSSC TEAM
The following are the members of the NUS VUSSC team:


 * Dr Emma Kruse Vaai : Interlocutor COL


 * Gatoloai Tilianamua Afamasaga : Country focal point for COL


 * Ioana Chan Mow


 * Tauvaga Vaai


 * Samuelu Faalafi


 * Lumaava Sooaemalelagi-Brown


 * Patila Malua-Amosa


 * Faainu Latu

Main contact for this page is Ioana Chan Mow [mailto:i.chanmow@nus.edu.ws?Subject=Samoa - Email Ioana by clicking here]
 * Pelenato Pelenato

/Sandbox/