Aoga Fiamalamalama, a non-government school for children with intellectual disability in Alafua held a Market Day on Friday to showcase the student’s talents and abilities through handcrafts, elei’s, wood work, pot plants, and canvas drawing. 

The programme started with a prayer, followed by a warm greeting from the school and principal Sharon Suhren, guardians, relatives and staff individuals of the school were in participation.

The main focus was to help all students gain an understanding of their abilities and to be more aware and appreciative of their interests and preferences in life to be able to play to their strengths. 

In an interview with Samoa Observer, the Ms. Suhren said the purpose of this market day is to showcase the talents and recognising the potential of children with intellectual disabilities for a more inclusive Samoa

She said a lot of people may see intellectual disability as a limitation. She said it is important to shift the perspective towards recognising the potential of these individuals.

“The benefits of social inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities are numerous. By promoting their full participation in society, we can create a more diverse, innovative, and inclusive society,” she said.

“A lot of stuff we do is often according to the ability of the children so we don’t have classes like the normal schools and majority of them preferred hands-on practical education, like cooking, gardening and handicrafts, rather than listening to lessons.

"We teach them step by step and expose them to vocational areas in agriculture like keyhole gardening from start up, maintenance and harvest stages, sewing and small carpentry projects."

According to Ms Suhren the 2023 Market Day was a great opportunity in supporting the students’ needs and help the older student’s pathway for a steady employment. 

Data collated and analysed by the Pacific Community in 2018 related to education revealed significant disparities between persons with disabilities compared to those without. Persons with disabilities were found to be five times more likely to have never attended school compared to persons without disabilities. About 10 per cent of persons with disabilities had no education compared to only 2 per cent of persons without disabilities.

Most persons with disabilities who managed to attend school, only completed primary education. Persons with disabilities are over-represented at the primary level and underrepresented at secondary level and beyond. Primary school was the highest level of education attained by about 42 per cent of persons with disabilities compared to 32 per cent of persons without disabilities. Only 37 per cent of persons with disabilities attended school up to the secondary level compared to 51 per cent of person without disabilities.

A sharp decline was noted in school attendance starting at 13 years of age, suggesting bottlenecks in the advancement of persons with disabilities to secondary school and school attendance rates correlated with disparities in reading and writing proficiency. Only about 38 per cent and 35 per cent of persons with disabilities could read and write without any difficulty compared with 68 per cent and 66 per cent of persons without disabilities, respectively.