Abstract

In 2024, Samoa shortened its secondary school curriculum from five years to four years. This change led to a sharp drop in pass rates for the Samoa School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Mathematics exam - from 72 percent in 2023 to only five percent in 2024. This event created a chance to study how such a reform affects different groups of students. This study examines how students performed on the 2024 exam across three factors: the type of school they attended (government, private, or church), the location of their school (Urban Upolu, Rural Upolu, or Savaii), and gender (boys-only or girls-only schools). The researchers analyzed four years of exam data (2021 to 2024) using statistics to compare group performance. The findings show deep gaps in Samoa's education system. Private schools were the only ones to do well - they kept a 30 percent pass rate, and every student scored above 30. In contrast, government schools, rural schools, and schools in Savaii had pass rates between 1% and 5%, with most students scoring below 10. Girls' schools far outperformed boys' schools: girls scored mostly in the 20s and 30s, while boys scored in single digits or low teens. Private schools stood out as the only high-achieving group; all other school types performed at similarly low levels. The curriculum change did not create these inequalities - it only exposed them. The results show a three-level system where some schools protect their students from harm while others leave most of their students behind.