NOT A DAY goes by without commuters and motorists running into school-age children roaming the streets of Monrovia looking to make a buck.
KIDS WHO SHOULD BE IN School can be seen in between traffic selling assorted goods because they have become the new breadwinners in today’s Liberia where parents simply cannot afford to send their children to school are forced to use them as peddlers.
THIS BLEAK PICTURE speaks volumes for Liberia’s future: A society which should be breeding future leaders has become a haven for peddlers forced to hustle to feed their families.
THIS BLEAK PICTURE is now catching the attention of the world.
LAST WEEK, A United Nations report revealed what most Liberians already knew that the post-war nation has the highest proportion of children missing out on primary school education, with nearly two-thirds of children never stepping inside a classroom.
THE UNITED NATIONS Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report featured African countries hit by conflict in the organization’s first global out-of-school ranking, with South Sudan coming joint second with Eritrea on the list. In both countries, 59 percent of children are out of school.
THE UN REPORT comes a year after a 2015 report by the Ministry of Education trumpeting Free Education for All, heralded that in an effort to improve education, the Government of Liberia was undertaking a five‐Year development strategy (Agenda for Transformation) which aims to prioritized education and seeking to provide educational opportunities for all.
According to the MoE, the goal is to improve quality of life by investing in more accessible and higher quality education.
THE REPORT SUGGESTED THAT the plan was already in play: “In order to achieve this goal, the Free And Compulsory Primary Education Program initially targeting grades1–6 was extended to grades 7 ‐ 9. This Means the first nine years of education which is now Basic Education is free and compulsory. School Grants have also been provided to cover tuition and other fees, distance to school gradually reduced through new schools construction; provided textbooks and supplementary learning materials. Gender Parity at the basic level is being improved as a result of the policy on girl’s education. Furtherance to meeting the EFA Goal of universal basic education, private cost of education has reduced considerably at the basic education level.
SO WHY IS THE UN report saying something different? What have authorities at the MoE been doing to ensure that all young children benefit from this access to free education and why are so many still out of school and in the streets peddling?
THE GOAL of the Education for All initiative was to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children while ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
TODAY, MUCH remains shortchanged. Communities lack schools and even those who are volunteering education projects lack incentives and government support to broaden the horizon of their projects.
THE BULK OF THE PROBLEM, according to the UN report boils down to funding. The report states that education remains one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals. “For countries affected by conflict, school equips children with the knowledge and skills they need to rebuild their communities once the crisis is over,” UNICEF chief of education Jo Bourne said in the statement. “Schools can also protect children from the trauma and physical dangers around them.”
IN LIBERIA, in particular, many communities lack classroom routines to aid children psychologically after witnessing atrocities, as well as safeguarding them from abuse,
THE REPORT CITED LIBERIA which emerged from two civil wars in 2003, temporarily shut its schools to stop the spread of Ebola epidemic.
WHAT LIBERIA NEEDS now is a strong effort to mobilize communities into action. Government must direct resources to education projects undertaken by groups to communities in need since it is clear that government lacks the resources or know-how to reach every town and village.
MAKE NO MISTAKE this report is damning for a country where education is as messy as it gets.
FREE EDUCATION FOR ALL MUST not just be a rhetoric for big speeches and internationally-funded reports, but should serve as the cornerstone from which bridges to education can be built; from where children can be removed from lives of street-peddling to a place in the classrooms; from where Liberia can emerge out of the ashes of mess to a place where children can become normal again.