MONROVIA – The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Rivercess County Senator Dallas Gueh has called for holistic reforms in the education system of Liberia if must be on par with other countries.
Senator Gueh stated that as it stands, the education system is weak, and to strengthen it, it requires the political will of all parties involved to implement the education reform policy.
He made the assertions when he spoke at the climax of a four – day Youth Legislative Policy Dialogue organized by NAYMOTE – Partners for Democratic Development in conjunction with the Legislative Information Service (LIS).
Speaking on the prospects and challenges of the education sector of Liberia, the Senate Chair on Education explained there are several underlying factors responsible for the decline in the education sector, and chief among them include underfunding, corruption, lack of trained teachers and policy implementation.
According to him, 70 percent of instructional staff within the Liberian school system are not trained, something that is having an adverse effect on the sector.
“They (the teachers) are educated but are not teachers. Until they get formal teacher training, our system will still be lacking behind,” he said.
Speaking further, Senator Gueh indicated that some of the basic components including the provision of student loan and promotion of excellence that are found within the education reform policy which was crafted during the immediate past administration have not been implemented owing to underfunding lack of political will.
For five successive fiscal years, Liberia has suffered budgetary shortfall owing to the continuous economic problems as the result of fall in major commodities’ prices and the lingering effects of Ebola.
This, he noted has had an adverse effect on the already meager education budget; adding that 98 percent of the budget for education is spent on salary and 2% is on operations.
On corruption, he stated that key stakeholders including teacher, students and parents are not credible as corruption begins right in the classroom.
He named schools demanding flexibility fee during exams, parents aiding their children to bribe, schools exploiting students by charging excessive graduation fees as some classic examples of widespread corruption that is polluting the system.
Going forward, he revealed that it requires a concerted effort from all to begin addressing some of these ills in the sector.
Meanwhile, the four-day event brought together lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives as well as young people from diverse disciplines discussing series of national issues that centered on governance, security and education, among others.