Faleasiu Primary School has received new chairs, desks and boxes of reading books courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints humanitarian aid group. 

Church officials officially handed over the education equipment and material on Thursday morning at the school hall with students, parents, teachers and village representatives witnessing the gesture. 

Speaking to the Samoa Observer after the presentation, Faleasiu Primary School Principal, To'omata Esera Toia said they are blessed to have received 58 desks, 64 chairs and 10 boxes of reading books from the L.D.S. Church and added that there is still more to come. 

There are about 548 students of attending the primary School, however, he said there could be more as they have yet to update the school roll for this academic year.

"Today [Thursday] is the official handover of assistance from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints upon a request we made last year for chairs and desks because the school really needed this assistance to provide for the growing number of our students," Mr Toia said. 

"We received the assistance last year in December but it is only today that LDS has officially handed it over to us now that school has started for this year. 

"We had enough desks and chairs for the children but most of the desks and chairs were old and rusted and it’s not safe to be used by the students anymore. We have also received boxes of books for the students." 

The Principal said a request has also been made to the L.D.S. Church for a library, in order to store their books and for the use of the students. 

"We want to say thank you to the LDS Church for accepting our request and our proposal. I believe we were not the only school who requested for assistance but we’ve been blessed to be one of the first to receive such assistance," he added. 

A village representative and school committee member, Taueva Fa'afouina Mupo, acknowledged the support of the church. 

He said it his belief that the donated educational equipment and reading material will be of great value to the school and contribute to the education of the children of Faleasiu. 

"We have a new school building consisting of three classrooms that were built last year. As the committee, we thought that since it was a new building, it was befitting that the furniture is new as well," Mr Mupo added.

"We’re fortunate to have received these today as well as receiving reading books which are very important for the children to develop their reading skills, which will contribute greatly to their education.

"We are grateful for this donation and I thank the leader of the L.D.S. humanitarian group for this very helpful assistance to Faleasiu Primary School. 

"We the members of the committee, the principal, the staff, parents and the village of Faleasiu acknowledge your kindness."

Speaking on behalf of the L.D.S. Church, Elder Lam said the Faleasiu Primary School isn't the only recipient of such support, and that they will continue to support the needs within the education sector while working closely with the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture. 

"The assistance is funded by the L.D.S. Church abroad. Numerous schools have also received this support and almost all the schools in Savai'i were the recipients of this assistance as well," he said. 

"We just wanted to help and within the education sector, we wanted to provide and make education easier and comfortable for the children of Samoa."