In February last year, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele was photographed alongside Warren Meyer, the "humanitarian ambassador" for a group called Applied Scholastics.

Key points: An investigation revealed that Scientology material is being taught in six Samoan schools

An investigation revealed that Scientology material is being taught in six Samoan schools Experts warn Scientology is covertly pushing its ideology in schools across the world

Experts warn Scientology is covertly pushing its ideology in schools across the world It uses affiliate groups like Applied Scholastics and ABLE to obscure its involvement

It uses affiliate groups like Applied Scholastics and ABLE to obscure its involvement There are two schools here in Australia that use the works of 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.

Samoan PM Tuilaepa Sailele receiving a textbook from Applied Scholastics ambassador Warren Meyer. ( Supplied: Samoa Ministry of Education )

It claims to already be operating in 70 countries — including schools and facilities here in Australia.

But according to critics, Applied Scholastics is somewhat of a Trojan horse for religious indoctrination, and is being covertly rolled out across the globe.

David Touretzky is an academic and researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who has spent years uncovering and criticising the workings of the Church of Scientology and its partner organisations.

"One of the reasons it's objectionable is that it's covert religious instruction, it's teaching people Scientology," he told the ABC.

But the organisation is also believed to be exaggerating its reach and the success of its operations, a marketing ploy experts say is aimed at shoring up donations back in the United States.

Study Tech a form of 'covert religious instruction'

Founder of the Church of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard ( Wikimedia Commons )

Applied Scholastics was established in 1972 by Church of Scientology members, and is one of many umbrella organisations that obscure or outright deny their links to the Church of Scientology.

The company claims to be a non-aligned and secular group "dedicated to the broad implementation of learning tools researched and developed by American author and educator L Ron Hubbard".

"What they don't say is that [Hubbard] was a sociopath and a cult leader," Dr Touretzky said.

Applied Scholastics uses a teaching method known as Study Tech — an idea formed by Hubbard — which he described as "[Scientology's] primary bridge to society".

On its websites, Applied Scholastics provides several "research reports" published by the organisation itself while highlighting a number of anonymous testimonials.

"Study Tech is not a gimmicky 'quick-study method' but an exact technology that anyone can use to learn a subject or to acquire a new skill," reads an explanation on Scientology's website.

But it doesn't provide much more than perfunctory detail on how its methods work or any solid evidence to their efficacy, and the material's contents refer heavily to reading assignments and generalised or simplistic exercises to enhance learning such as looking up the definitions of words that readers don't understand.

"Your ability to learn depends on a willingness to learn. The biggest single block to learning is your decision that you already know all about it," a sample of Study Tech's work reads.

According to Dr Touretzky, Study Tech is not supported by any legitimate scientists or educators.

"You can't find any school of education or psychology department in the world that supports these ideas — the only place where these concepts are taught are in the religious scripture of the Church of Scientology," he said.

"It's harmful, it's bad educational theory and it's covert religious instruction."

'Not part of the Church of Scientology': Applied Scholastics

Applied Scholastics is believed to be run by a group managed by the religious arm of the Church. ( AAP: Dean Lewis )

Applied Scholastics has consistently rejected allegations that it takes directions from the Church of Scientology, and a spokesperson told the ABC it was an independent organisation that is "not part of the Church of Scientology or any other religious organisation".

However, the spokesperson did say the Church of Scientology's "parishioners are some of the biggest supporters of Applied Scholastics activities" and that donations funded its headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.

According to its website which the spokesperson referred the ABC to for more information, Applied Scholastics is run by the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), another group created and managed by the Church.

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ABLE oversees and manages a handful of programs — Applied Scholastics, Narconon, Criminon and The Way To Happiness — and says that its "mission is to rid the world of its most devastating social ills — illiteracy, drugs, crime and immorality — through the social betterment methods and principles of author and humanitarian L Ron Hubbard."

Tony Ortega, a prominent Scientology critic and author, said ABLE's organisations act as surrogates for Scientology's ideology, and are also staffed by members of Sea Org, the religious arm of the Church of Scientology.

"ABLE is the key — Applied Scholastics cannot do anything without ABLE's approval," Mr Ortega said, adding that the Church has used umbrella groups for decades in a bid to obfuscate its activities.

"These groups are not affiliated with Scientology, they are Scientology."

In Australia, there are at least two schools using the work of Applied Scholastics: Yarralinda Primary School, an early learning centre in Melbourne, and the Athena School in Sydney.

On its website, Yarralinda School says it is a "proud member" of the Applied Scholastics network. ( Yarralinda School )

Both have only a handful of students, and do not present themselves as being associated with the Church of Scientology while maintaining that they are non-aligned, secular institutions.

A former Yarralinda Primary School board member alleged in 2011 that the school had taken out a mortgage of $1 million dollars to help fund a new Church of Scientology headquarters, and was using government funding to service the debt.

In a statement, Yarralinda Primary School principal Christel Duffy told the ABC "Yarralinda was not owned, operated or run by any religious body or entity".

'Scientology never tells the truth about itself'

Applied Scholastics claims to reach millions of school students across the world. ( Supplied: Applied Scholastics )

Applied Scholastics claims on its website to have "760 affiliates" as well as "100,000 educators and 28 million students" worldwide.

Those numbers would indicate the group has substantial reach and influence, but not everyone agrees that the figures stack up.

"Scientology never tells the truth about itself, including its facts and figures about its reach around the world," Mr Ortega said.

"I've spoken to people who used to create those numbers, they say they just pull them out of thin air."

Asked for evidence of its claims, Applied Scholastics reiterated the figures on its website, but did not provide the ABC with any proof of their veracity or details of the material's educational successes and instead referred the ABC to a page that could not be found on its website.

"Applied Scholastics has been delivering services for more than four decades with the end result of millions of students and tens of thousands of teachers helped with our educational tools," it maintained.

The fact that organisations like Applied Scholastics claim generalised but huge success in far-off lands makes it difficult to establish exactly if or how they might be genuinely expanding the reach of Scientology's influence and ideas.

"They always pick these remote locations where it's hard to fact check — they haven't managed to train every teacher in Missouri, but they've got every teacher in Gambia," Dr Touretzky said.

He said organisations with apparent links to the Church had plenty of reasons to exaggerate their success.

"It's all just a show for wealthy donors … they give incredible amounts of money, it's just insane," he said.

"It's all being photographed and recorded so at the next big event [they can] show these donors their success … whether or not they gain new members, that's less important than having something to show."

But according to Mr Ortega, years of abuse revelations and some high profile defections have dwindled the Church's membership significantly.

"Scientology is dying … in 1990 they had about 100,000 active members, they've never had the million that they claimed," he said.

"The two most recent defectors who had access to the numbers say it's probably around 20,000 active members."

As for Samoa, Scientology may have gained a foothold and the PR it needs to maintain a sense of ubiquity, but in an overwhelmingly Christian country, observers say it's unlikely to get much more than that.

The Church of Scientology has been contacted for comment but did not reply at the time of writing.