Monrovia – As students across Liberia prepare to start the 2017/2018 academic year, the MoE has released its calendar of events for all primary, junior and senior high schools across the country.
Speaking Thursday at the Ministry of Information weekly press briefing, Felicia Doe-Somah, Assistant Minister for Secondary Education said the academic calendars runs from September 4, 2017 to July 6, 2018.
She said due to the elections, the Ministry has added additional six days to the two hundred minimum instructional days as a means of catching up with the time that will be missed during the elections or on major holidays.
Madam Somah said the Ministry is calling on all private, mission and faith-based schools operating in Liberia to submit their instructional academic calendar and information sheets to the office of the District Education Officer for approval by the County Education Officer across the country before the start of the academic year.
”The Education law calls for a minimum of two hundred instructional days and we noted that in our calendar.”
“We’ll try to work with time and we know that election is coming so we know there will be some events that we made not plan for, but we have added additional days.
Minister Somah said in other to achieve full adherence to age appropriation in the various schools across the country parents must send their children to school at an early age so they the can finish soon.
She called on all schools to also adhere to the 45 minutes instruction period and no students should be out and roaming during schools hours as that school would be penalized.
“The required length of school day for a basic and secondary Education consists of a minimum of six instructional periods of forty-five minutes excluding lunch, devotion, and planning time, so MOE will be holding school administrators to the neck this time to be able to conduct themselves in the way that they will manage their school and to leave all this super Friday or no good school day.
She said teachers who do not meet the required teaching load must be giving other academic responsibilities by the school principal in other to compensate for the lost hours. Madam Somah said school authority should stop the use of corporal punishment or any form of punishments that will cause physical and moral injury to the students.
Report by Jackson F. Kanneh – [email protected]/0770195412