Questions over education funding dominated parliamentary discussions as Deputy Leader of the Opposition Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo raised concerns about reductions in support for schools, the National University of Samoa and school connectivity programmes, while government leaders maintained that funding remains available and reforms are being implemented.
Fonotoe said educational programmes must continue because schools depend on them to educate children from families throughout the country. He said it had been observed that the One Government Grant (OGG) had been reduced below the budget request currently being processed and was no longer at the same level as the amount available in the financial year now ending.
He also noted that assistance for the National University of Samoa (NUS) had been reduced, saying adjustments would have to be made to the operations of schools and warning of serious impacts from reducing funding used to run these initiatives.
Fonotoe further said funding for school connectivity had been completely removed from the budget estimates. He said funding had existed in the financial year that had just ended and that about $2 million had been spent on the programme, but it was still not functioning properly. He said his constituency had reported that school connectivity was not working well and that similar problems existed in other districts and schools across the country.
