M.E.S.C. receives over 25,000 books

By Adel Fruean 26 February 2020, 1:00PM

More than 25,000 books were donated to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) by the American organisation Applied Scholastics International to boost the literacy and numeracy rates of students in Samoa.

The handing over ceremony was held at the M.E.S.C. headquarters on Tuesday.


According to the President of Applied Scholastics International Organization, Warren Meyer, the total cost of the books is equivalent to around $1.5 million tala. 

“This donation compliments the earlier donations, it includes 8,000 dictionaries and the books will cater for both primary school and college students,” he added.

Mr. Meyer said one of the reasons he chose to help Samoa’s education sector is because his parents were teachers.

“My parents were teachers and teachers need all the help they can get to educate the students and the Samoan people are very lovely and kind people.

“At my age, I would prefer helping people and bettering mankind which I enjoy very much. I have also helped other countries like Peru and Mexico.

“We collected books from readers around America for about two to three months. I thank the M.E.S.C. Minister who has a great vision for all schools in Samoa.”

He also acknowledged the work done by M.E.S.C. to educate Samoans. 

“I have invested a lot here for the good will of the nation and also you have a very smart Prime Minister and he knows that these materials will work.

“I have gotten to know members of M.E.S.C. very well and they can really help the nation.”

The M.E.S.C. Minister, Loau Keneti Sio thanked Mr. Meyer for the assistance. 

“This is not the first time you have helped the education sector through providing dictionaries and books to enable our children to learn and know more about literacy and numeracy," the Minister said. “We hope this will not be the last container. The donation is very significant because it will help the students of Samoa improve their learning skills through reading and numeracy.”

By Adel Fruean 26 February 2020, 1:00PM

Trending Stories

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>