‘Ana has been a teacher for more than 50 years. She worked for more than 30 years at the Ministry of Education in Tonga, before taking up an academic career at the University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva. When she returned to Tonga at the end of 2007, she was at the time Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Post-Graduate Affairs. She was also Director of the Institute of Education of the University, which is the University’s outreach arm to the Pacific region on research and educational matters, for two separate periods.
Over the years, she has been involved in various educational development work, consultancies, research projects, and authored many articles, particularly in relation to language issues, literacy, gender, and culture. Throughout her career she has been passionate about the critical importance of promoting and sustaining Tonga’s language, culture, and traditional heritages. She is currently Dean of the School of Education at Christ’s University in the Pacific, where she is unapologetically involved in the training of Christian teachers for Tonga and the promotion of the Christian Education Framework “Ko e ‘Otua mo Tonga ko Hoku Tofiʻa”, as the way forward for education in Tonga.