Student Survey Alarms Samoans...

From a Pago correspondent

A survey of graduating high school students in American Samoa has revealed disturbing trends in employ ment preferences and failures in the territory’s educational system.

The survey, which was done for the Department of Manpower Resources by Peter Creevey and Eliu Paopao, was taken in the public high schools in mid-May to “learn some thing about the students’ career awareness, their exposure to the world of work, their job preferences and their plans.’’

The most disturbing finding was that 90 per cent of the students interviewed wanted to work for the government, rather than in the private sector. Of 8,000 in the total territory work force, more than 4,000 work for the government. The growth of government employment has increased by more than 400 per cent since 1956.

The Department of the Interior has repeatedly talked about decreasing

the role of government in the local economy, but there seems to be little indication that this is being done.

And more importantly, as the survey showed, there is increasing dependence on government employment. . . . i , , A total of 62 per cent indicated that they planned to leave American Samoa for the United States after graduating. The outflow of young people from American Samoa—and most of them are the best and the brightest of the students—seems to be continuing also. Only 37 of the almost 400 graduating students said they planned to attend the Commumty College of American Samoa.

And the survey found that “the students seemed handicapped in their job-finding prospects by a lack of counselling and work exposure”.

It pointed out that only one in 10 students taking a United States Navy recruiting test could score over 30

per cent, which is a minimum score for entering the Navy, The survey recommended im mediate job counselling for graduating students and an improvement in the Department of Education’s counsel ling and career-awareness pro grammes ..j think (hat , he trends we have found in American Samoa,” said Creevey .* are true o( ma other js|and communitieS; and 1 would like t the study extended to other areas b the South Pacific Commis . s j Qn „ c i. eevey , who has written a good deal about the South Pacific said: *. Although many Is)and territories are now independent or self-governing, they are still shackled to the economic chariot wheels of the metropolitan powers. Only a well-educated and well-trained indigenous work force will enable the South Pacific to really control its own destiny.”