Monrovia – Students of G. W. Gibson High School located on the Capitol Bypass in Monrovia are calling on the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) to restore electricity to their school campus to enable them prepare for the upcoming regional exams.
The G.W Gibson, which is supervised by the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS), is one of the largest public schools in Monrovia.
The school’s student council president, Alfred T. Nimely, in an interview with journalists, said for the past three years the school has been without electricity.
This happened when the transformer which provided power for the school facility was damaged, he said.
According to Nimely, although the school has science and computer laboratories, these facilities are not functional because of the lack of power.
Recently, the Ministry of Education reopened school for 12th graders to complete their studies and prepared for the pending West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
But the lack of power crippling the preparation of students at the school, they are calling on President George Weah to intervene as officials of LEC have failed to listen to their plight.
Student Nimley said if the situation continues unresolved, they will have to stage a peaceful protest to attract the government’s attention.
“We are asking officials of LEC not to take our call for granted but with urgency because we need to study to the best of our abilities as we continue our preparation for the WASSCE challenges to come and we want them to know that without proper electricity facility, we may not perform to expectation in the exam to come,” he said.
Speaking further, he revealed that the student council leadership does not hold the school administration responsible for the situation, noting that “the administration has tried its possible best to restore current to the campus but LEC has failed to respond”.
Moses W. Kangar, the principal of the school, added that the school is engulfed with several problems that have continue to impede students’ smooth learning process.
But he stressed that the major point of focus is to resolve the electricity challenge.
Mr. Kangar revealed that before the COVID-19 outbreak, LoneStar Cell/MTN began setting up a computer lab that is nearing completion but due to the lack of electricity, students are yet to have access to “that beautiful facility.”
He disclosed that the school had written LEC several times and that the administration and students visited the corporation’s offices on several occasions but to no avail.
He said because their engagement with LEC has proven futile, they are now turning to President Weah, the Ministry of Education, the Legislature and the MCSS to make quick intervention.
“In the period of the three years of current shortage, our students have been talking about strike action and how to block the road but as administrators, we didn’t want them to go that route. So, we have continued to prevent the students from doing that but now they are going out of patience,” Mr. Kangar said.