In March 2021 a Samoa Government-sanctioned report uncovered a deepening crisis in the country’s education sector: the increasing number of student dropout rates.

The report titled Samoa’s Second Voluntary National Review gave data on the declining primary school and secondary school completion rates.

Between 2016–2018, the secondary school completion rate for Year 12 students fell from 62.65 to 54.1 per cent and Year 13 from 71.4 to 35.95 per cent for both male and female students. The low completion rate for Year 13, a decline from 44.4 per cent in 2016 to 35.95 per cent in 2018 is a concern, the report stated at that time. There was also a high dropout rate for students in Years 11–13. Another report released in 2020 by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics titled Samoa Youth Monograph 2020 published data that showed that the percentage of students progressing from primary to secondary school had declined from 93.7 per cent in 2014 to 86.5 per cent in 2018.

A lot of schools were closed over the last three years due to the measles epidemic in late 2019 followed by the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. The closures would have only worsened the status of our primary and secondary school students and further disrupted their education.

Over a year after the Government lifted its State of Emergency (SOE) measures and with the local economy currently in a dilapidated state, there will be a lot more students out of school today, either due to their parents being jobless during the pandemic or being forced to find employment to help their families.

This is why the recent announcement by the Sagaga No. 4 M.P. that his constituency’s $1 million District Development Project will cater for school fees is welcome news indeed for families that are financially constrained.

An article (Constituency considers catering for school fees) in yesterday’s edition of the Samoa Observer quoted the MP Tagaloatele Papalii Pasi Poloa as saying a proposal will be submitted to the Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development.

He said the constituency committee will first run a survey to find out the number of children in the district who were not attending school due to financial constraints.

“I hope this project goes through. This problem has been around for some time and it has always been discussed to address this issue. Education is very important and we should be able to provide the children with access to good quality education,” Tagaloatele said.

“If the project becomes a success, I advise the parents that can afford their children’s fees to please give the opportunity to those who literally cannot.”

We welcome this intervention by the Sagaga No. 4 M.P. and his district committee to assist families that are financially constrained and hope that the Ministry will give it its tick of approval. There is no better way to utilise a portion of the $1 million annual grant than funding school fees of children from impoverished families who cannot afford them. 

There are families in Samoa, who live by the way, unsure of what tomorrow brings due to their poor economic background. They should be the first ones in the queue for the consideration of the Sagaga No. 4 district committee, whose children should be assisted under the grant. But how does the district committee know which families can qualify and should be assisted with the school fee assistance scheme? A family-targetted survey within the district will assist the district committee make those critical choices and we are glad to hear that the constituency is going down that path.

Taramati Savelio, a mother from Saleimoa, welcomed the announcement by the local MP and also urged other constituencies to also consider assisting impoverished families with their children’s school fees.

“On the same note, I hope this project will help not only our village but all other districts need to wake up to this idea,” she said.

Ms. Savelio is on point in appealing to other constituencies to consider a similar contingency, which at the end of the day ensures all children continue to go to school, and more importantly stay in school to complete their education.

Having an educated population is considered essential to a nation’s long-term future prosperity. It doesn’t have to take a rocket scientist to figure out that without an educated population, the long-term prosperity of a nation cannot be assured.

The Sagaga No. 4 constituency, by allocating portions of its annual grant for school fees in these tough times, will be contributing to Samoa’s long-term development and prosperity. It can become a game changer.