Monrovia — The chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petition Senator, Augustine Chea, has alarmed over the proliferation of sub-standard public and private schools, colleges and universities operating in Liberia, with a call on government to shutdown these poorly- performing institutions that have been established across the country for political reasons.
Senator Chea observed that though Liberia has made incremental progress in some areas of governance and development, the country's educational sector has not recovered from the ravages of the civil war.
He noted that this sad reality continues to persist with no sufficient investment made in the sector, because education is not being prioritized in the country.
Senator Chea's assertions were contained in a statement released in Monrovia over the week end.
He observed that in the midst of serious learning and performance deficit of Liberian students, colleges and universities are being established all over the place.
He questioned whether or not these colleges and universities are being established to produce more underperformers in public examinations.
"There are so many substandard private colleges and universities established in the country in the last 20 years, majority of which do not even have the basic or minimal facilities for teaching and learning, needless to talk about the faculties. Added to them are the public colleges and universities established in the counties instead of vocational or technical schools; so each county now has a college or university with no facilities and qualified instructors or professors."
Senator Chea maintained that many of these colleges and universities are operating in high school buildings sharing facilities, with each operating on an annual budget of less than US$1million.
"The truth is that we don't have the money to support colleges and universities in all the counties. We need to recognize that and don't shy away from or play politics with it. Because every lawmaker wants a college in his/her county but cares less about the fiscal impact or whether there's money to fund it."
"Are we serious? What are we doing to our country and our young people? How unserious could we be to allow this kind of malfeasance? If we are not serious about anything as a country and leaders, the one thing we shouldn't play down or care less about is education. Because education -- good education I mean -- lies at the core of our development and progress."
Senator Chea stressed that education should not be sacrificed or be the opportunity cost for anything.
He added that education should rank among the first in the order of priorities of Liberia.
"Go and see what's happening at the University of Liberia. Classrooms designed or intended for 40 - 60 students now have more than twice that number, and the same is true for our public primary and secondary schools. And check out the faculty (there are some outstanding ones there though who are making the sacrifice for country), but that university had one of the best faculties in the world before the war, both local and international (professors from many parts of the world), and highly paid. It was the high salaries that attracted these brilliant academics."
Speaking further, Senator Chea expressed disappointment over the mass failures in the West African Senior Secondary Examinations (WASSCE) for academic year 2023/2024.
"The mass failure in WASSCE for the 2023/2024 academic year of about 60% of candidates is a cause for concern. And what is even more concerning is that the failure was in two major subjects, English and mathematics."
Senator Chea stated that poor education (teaching and learning) outcomes have a direct correlation with the low investment in the sector, noting that, "if this trend continues and not ameliorated soon, our nation is doomed."
"What kind of nation are we building where many of the high school graduates cannot perform or read at elementary level and many of the college graduates don't know basic English and can't solve simple algebra problems."
Good schools in the past
He observed that prior to the civil war, Liberia had "very good schools" which compelled students from other countries in the sub-region and elsewhere to school here.
But unfortunately, he emphasized that such scenario is not happening anymore.
Senator Chea stressed that Liberians are now going to other countries for better education.
"What a shame for Africa's oldest independent country! It is a national imperative that we restore the education sector to its pre-war status, and sooner, not later."
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Meanwhile, Senator Chea has advanced several recommendations to the Government of Liberia (GOL), particularly the executive to help improve the country's educational sector.
He said government should make serious investment in education by committing at least 15 percent of the national budget to the sector.
He called for the establishment of more public primary and secondary schools in highly populated urban areas and the shutting down of substandard private schools.
The Sinoe County lawmaker wants government to also establish regional universities with boarding facilities and transition the county colleges and universities to vocational or technical (TVET) institutions, well equipped and properly staffed.
"We need skilled agriculturists and technicians more than college graduates because there where most of the jobs are and the future jobs will be. A majority of our high school graduates don't have the aptitude for college -- they are not just college ready but go to college because they have no other options."
Senator Chea indicated that support must be provided to the Cuttington University (CU) as a private regional university because of the growing population in the North-Central Region, and a public regional university must also be established in Nimba to add to Cuttington.
