POST SCHOOL EDUCATION & TRAINING PROVIDERS AND STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED ON THE DRAFT SQA AMENDMENT BILL 2022

PRESS RELEASE

The Samoa Qualifications Authority (SQA) will be consulting all Post School Education and Training (PSET) providers and all stakeholders including Government Ministries and Corporations, Private Sector Employers, Professional Associations, Development Partners as well as Regional and International Organisations on the Draft SQA Amendment Bill 2022. The consultations will take place from Monday 14th to Wednesday 16th March, 2022 for Upolu Stakeholders and on Friday 18th March, 2022 only for Savaii Stakeholders.

SQA was established under the SQA Act 2006 which was repealed in 2010 to provide more regulatory functions to the Authority. As the SQA implements its regulatory and policy advisory functions, more measures were identified by the Authority to ensure the post school education and training sub sector continues to be strengthened to cater for the needs of students and to meet the expectations and needs of workplaces. It is also an opportune time to revisit the existing functions of the Authority to address areas for improvement taking into account lessons learned from years of implementation.

The main objective of the Consultation is for SQA to present the Draft SQA Amendment Bill 2022 for stakeholder feedback to enable finalisation for approval of the proposed Bill prior to its tabling for Parliament this year.

The SQA wishes to acknowledge the support of PSET Providers and all of its stakeholders for their continuous support over the years towards the implementation of SQA/PSET activities and for their valuable feedback in finalising the SQA Amendment Bill 2022.