Nearing One Objective

Western Samoa, as the most populous and socially advanced of New Zealand's island territories, has had the lion's share of scholarships to date—130. against 56 for the Cook Islands and 20 for Niue. The ratio is now changing, for Samoa is nearing the long-term aim of educating enough secondary students at home.

Samoa College, opened four years ago with 52 pupils in its secondary department, next year will achieve its objective of turning out each year 100 students taught to the best overseas academic standards. Some have already successfully taken the New Zealand University Entrance examination. Scholarship pupils sent to New Zealand from 1945 onward were away from Samoa for up to eleven years before they were ready to enter the public service. This has had some disadvantages. Future trainees will be away from home no longer than needed to take a full university course.

The broad conspectus of useful occupations covered by the scholarship scheme is shown in a sample of 31 returned to Samoa, which includes 12 teachers, nine clerks and one each as agricultural instructor draughtsman, electrician, joiner musing sister, radiographer, paniter and decorator, radio announcer, radio technician and survey cadet.

None of those who have attained the highest qualifications has yet returned to the islands. Dr. W. P. Williams, a graduate of the Otago Medical School, is spending this year as a house surgeon at the Waikato Hospital: and the first scholar to complete a university arts course. Miss Fanaafi [unclear: Ma'int] also from Samoa, a B.A. of Victoria College, is doing an M A. course in education, having been awarded a James Macintosh Scholarship.