HELP LIBERIA FOUNDATION

On Education in Liberia – Facts to Consider: Part One

Posted by Help Liberia Foundation on August 16, 2009

On the first of September, all pupils in Poland will start their new school year again. At about the same time, millions of European and American children will also sit in their classrooms, meeting their classmates and beginning to learn.

It’s such a normal thing that it is difficult to imagine that there are countries where we will not see this picture, where the situation is completely different. One of such countries is Liberia. But why? How is it possible that in the 21st century thousands of children do not have access to education?

According to Liberian Education Law, created in 1912, primary education should be free and compulsory. Chapter II of the Liberian Constitution also states: “the Republic […] shall provide equal access to educational opportunities and facilities for all citizens to the extent of available resources. Emphasis shall be placed on the mass education of the Liberian people and the elimination of illiteracy.” Unfortunately, “available resources” are not available, at least when it comes to education. The point is that the Liberian government has never had enough resources to enforce these well-worded policies.

The New Education Law of 3 June 1973 included in it a provision for junior high school education. In article 194, section 3.1, it reads: “Every parent, guardian or other persons having control of any child between the ages of six and sixteen years shall cause such a child to attend a recognized public or private school regularly during the entire time the school is in session, provided such parents or guardians have the means to meet the minimum requirements of the school ….”

And here we come to the answer to the questions in paragraph two. With the unemployment rate about 70%, and about 80% of the population living below the poverty line ($1 a day), how many parents or guardians have the means to meet the requirements of the schools? Parents have to pay registration fees and pay semester fees (in most of the schools), buy books and school materials, and provide school uniforms that are compulsory in majority of the schools. Such expenses are much beyond their limits, even if there is only one or two children in a family. For many of them, it is impossible to pay the school fees of their children.

However, to have a complete depiction of the situation of the primary education in Liberia, more factors have to be mentioned. First, the fourteen-year-war has left the country without basic infrastructure; the schools were burnt, destroyed or looted. According to a UN report released in June of 2006, there were 3,817 primary schools in Liberia at that time (53% public, 37% private, 10% church or community-owned), which is far too few. Second, most of the existing schools can’t provide education of adequate quality. There is lack of professional teachers. Practically, for fourteen years, there was virtually no state-run teacher training, as a result of the war. It was reported that only 20% of the teachers were qualified to teach then. Besides, some teachers have not even completed high their school education. Third, the teachers get very low salaries, so they are forced to look for other sources of income. This, consequently, has influenced the quality of teaching. Fourth, the school supplies, educational materials, books, dictionaries, computers, etc., are in limited supplies or are unavailable. Moreover, students usually learn in very poor conditions, they have no desks, electricity, running water and so on.

Furthermore, access to education, though much better than in recent past, isn’t still equal. More boys than girls enroll in school, especially in the countryside. Besides, the consequences of the war can still be noticed in the age of the children that are enrolled in school. According to a UNDP report for Liberia (2008), 50% of primary school aged children in rural and semi-urban areas are enrolled as kindergarten students. Completion rates are a serious problem, too; and are estimated at 65%.

Considering all the problems mentioned and many more, it’s almost impossible for Liberia to reach the second Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education by 2015. The lack of resources on the part of both government and parents, as mentioned supra, is a grave impediment. Too many school-aged children are not in school.

But these children can be helped. Some of these disadvantaged children can only get their education in Liberia through the help of NGOs, like Help Liberia Foundation, through whom individuals decide to sponsor children. That’s why we continue to encourage individuals and institutions of good will to help send a child to school in Liberia.

If any of you out there would like to help any of these children get heir education, please click on the given link and choose a child: See list of children

Second class of primary school kids in class in our School in Liberia

Beginners in class in our school in Liberia