Church of Scientology is infiltrating schools with donated textbooks
Apia, SAMOA — In February last year, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele was photographed alongside Warren Meyer, the "humanitarian ambassador" for a group called Applied Scholastics.
The two were holding a textbook titled Learning How To Learn — one of 10,000 copies gifted to the small Pacific island nation.
But the friendly photograph belies a more bizarre and complex reality.
The much-needed educational resources for the children of Samoa were in fact books containing the teachings of L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the controversial Church of Scientology.
It has now been revealed — thanks to an investigation by the Samoa Observer published earlier this week — that there are at least six schools in Samoa using these teaching methods.
Applied Scholastics has also told the ABC that more than a dozen Samoan educators have travelled to the group's headquarters in Missouri for training.
The deeply Christian island nation of Samoa may seem an unlikely destination for Scientology to promote its teachings, but it's just one of many far-off corners of the globe Applied Scholastics is seeking to expand to.
It claims to already be operating in 70 countries — including schools and facilities here in Australia.