Financing for equity
1. Overall Education Financing Mechanisms
2. Policies and Programmes to Provide Resources to Schools
3. Education Policies and Programmes to Provide Resources to Students and Families
4. Social Policies and Programmes to Provide Resources to Students and their Families
Primary education is compulsory in Samoa and enforced by the enactment of the Education Act 2009. The Compulsory Education Act requires all children to attend school between the ages of 5 to 14 years. There are 979 early childhood education centres enrolling children ages between 2 to 6. Some activities in ECE are carried out by the MESC but this sub sector is largely the responsibility of an NGO, the National Council of Early Childhood Education for Samoa (NCECES).
The Education Sector Strategy 2013-2018 sets out programmes on Inclusive Education at All Levels to reach those children and young people currently not in education including those with disabilities, and those from families living in disadvantaged circumstances; and on School Fee Relief Grants (SSFGS).
The Samoa School Fees Grant Scheme (SSFGS), introduced in July 2010, has provided education free of charge in primary schools since 2010 and in secondary schools (for Years 9 to 11) since 2013. The SSFGS is a fixed formula-based grant that determines the operating budget for each school according to the policy and program design document. The formula provides a yearly per capita allocation for enrolled primary school children, with double the amount per enrolled child with special needs (base grant plus approved rate (ST$100 or ST$200 for special schools) for each enrolment). In addition to the per child subsidy, the SSFGS entitles schools to base grants, which are determined by the number of students enrolled, with less populated schools receiving higher base grants. SSFGS grants are intended to substitute for school fees and reduce the financial burden of schooling for parents, and to provide schools with adequate resources to help them meet the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (MESC) Minimum Service Standards. The SSFGS benefits primary students in 142 Government, 15 Mission and 3 Special Schools.
The SSFSG has been mostly funded by external donors (i.e. the Governments of Australia and New Zealand). While MESC is committed to developing a mechanism to absorb part or all of the financial responsibility for the Program over time, this commitment is not formalised. For the financial year 2017-2018, the SSFGS for primary school amounted to ST$4.2 million (US$1.6 million) and for secondary school to ST$3 million (US$1.2 million), accounting for 4% and 3% of the MOE Budget (ST$101 million or US$39 million), respectively. For the Fiscal Year 2018-2019, the annual Government School Grant assistance was announced to more than double to ST$13.2 million (US$5.1 million).
Funded by the Australian Government, the Samoa Inclusive Education Demonstration Program (SIEDP) began in 2010 and ended in 2015. In 2015-2016, inclusive education received ST$2 million (US$790,000) as a recurrent cost together with School Fee Relief Grants and ST$100,000 (US$ 40,000) as a development expense.
The aim of the SIEDP was to develop an enabling environment for inclusive education and to reach those children and young people currently not in primary and secondary education, specifically students with disabilities from rural and remote areas, and children living in disadvantaged circumstances. Although inclusive education is recognized and promoted in Samoa, only a small proportion of these students attend mainstream schools. NGOs still play the most important role in educating children with special needs. There are education centers for children with disability that operate as ‘special schools’. Mission and private schools are also providers of education to some children with special needs.
There is no publicly available information on this topic.
There is no publicly available information on this topic.
