allAfrica.com: Liberia: School System in State of Decline (Page 1 of 2)

In a three-prone dimensional speech which focused on Liberia's splintering school educational system, the head of the Liberia Media Center (LMC) squarely put the blame at the feet of parents, ministry of education and students, and many others.

Mr. Lawrence Randall in a rather detailed assessment of the standard of education in the country said there are three basic causes of the problems affecting the school system, namely the "Broken value and integrity system, weak oversight and monitoring system, and matching policy and action."

Serving as orator at the 38th commencement exercises of the School of Christ (SOC) recently, Mr. Randall said the principal reason for the current decline in Liberia's post-conflict educational system can be attributed to the overall decline in "our value and integrity system", which according to him "also threatens our growth and national essence."

Speaking on the topic "the Decline in Academic Excellence, the Need for National Attention," he said schools in Liberia are corrupt because "our homes have been corrupted".

But, he said parents have the audacity to change the situation by encouraging this generation, who according to him should be entrusted with the destiny of Liberia, not to engage in bribing or cheating to avoid repeating classes.

"We, parents, are the first line of action in changing this station. Most of us, parents, fail to even look at the school progress of our children least mention visiting to assess the learning environment," he said in an intriguing speech.

Randall, a product of the school, blamed parents for most of the problems facing the school system because parents have refused to shoulder their responsibility.

"We don't attend PTA meetings; we care less about the children's future. We are more concerned about jobs and if not jobs, outings and if not outings, things and if not things, spouses.

"We are the fundamental reason for the decline in academic excellence. We have failed miserably to provide the leadership in our homes, as a result, our value and integrity has been eroded," he said to the enchantment of the audience.

Though the government has a fundamental role to play in transforming the system, he however observed that the government has nothing to do to change the situation at various homes.

"Government can not instill values in our homes. Government can not encourage our children to study when they come from school, when parent care less. We are first culprits that posterity," he noted, and called on Liberians to change their approach to education.

If this trend continues unabated, he fears foreigners will continue to inundate the Liberian society, whether competent or not, and will in the end exploit the existing incompetence.

Mr. Randall, an icon of SOC, challenged parents and students who filled the auditorium of the Monrovia City Hall to play their roles positively because "to achieve any goal goes with huge investment."

In the four-page speech, he tried to shield teachers, saying that they should be held liable for most of the corruptions at schools. Corruption does not begin with them; it begins with us students.

" If we do not give our instructors money, they will stop asking for it. If we agree to repeat classes, study hard, they will have no reason to ask for bribe:.

Today, Liberian students cannot compete with their counterparts in other countries including post-conflict countries. This is our challenge," Mr. Randall said.

On the second aspect of his speech, which has to do with "Weak oversight and monitoring system," he blamed the Ministry of Education for not doing enough to monitor the system.

According to Randall, there are colleges in Liberia that do not represent college status by all means and measures, expressing the need for some universities to merge because "most of the instructors merely navigate the carious campuses offering the same lectures."

Apart from that, he said teachers and professors are not reading, and as such, are not providing what he called "new perspective to current issues."

Instead of finding solutions to the problems, he said teachers and professors are holding on to titular issues, such as "no textbooks." All of these malpractices are happening because of the weak oversight and monitoring system, he observed.

However, in order to address the situation, Randall said the Ministry of Education needs to chart a new course by matching its policy with action.

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