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EDUCATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ALL:
A CAMPAIGN AGAINST ILLETRACY IN LIBERIA
Overview
Liberia is emerging from over a decade of civil
war that unimaginably destroyed institutions
that bolstered the educational, socio-political,
and economic development of every Liberian. As a
result, thousands of Liberians now live in
poverty and are unable to provide for their
daily needs. Pathetically, such an abject
poverty has driven the quest for education in
Liberia to an all time low level, as many
Liberians barely afford to pay the high cost of
education. Despite recent Government’s effort to
make education compulsory for all Liberians,
most especially the youth, children of school
going age are not in school because families
would rather prioritize food with the little
money they have to schooling.
There is a downward trend in the quality of
education offered due to poor facilities and
learning materials, and the lack of qualified
teachers. Education professionals who fled the
civil war have not returned for reasons such as
low pay rate and poor security. The Educational
Institutions are in ruins across the nation,
causing overcrowding in the very few functional
and affordable schools confined to Monrovia and
its immediate environs
The war also hindered the ability of Liberia to
educate her citizens at a preferable rate due to
very limited government funding for educational
institutions. As the government struggles for
funds, the cost of education continues to be the
full responsibility of the very struggling
students and their families. There is no
imminent sign that the government will provide
the kinds of pre-war subsidies, which in the
past, lowered the cost of education and lessened
the financial and economic burden on students
and families. |
