Monrovia – Students of the Monrovia Consolidated School System(MCSS) have blocked the main Tubman Boulevard streets adjacent to the seat of the Liberian Presidency.
“They do not want to pay our teachers and if they do not pay our teachers we will remain on the streets,” Peter Tokpah, a student from the William V.S. Tubman High School.
The students told our reporters that officers of the Executive Protective Services sprayed teargas and attacked them in a bid to forced them off the streets,” student Jarjay Bah, from G.W. Gibson High School said.
Bah says teachers have not been paid for four months. We are not learning and not taking our tests.
The students are also threatening to disrupt operations at private school if their teachers are not paid.
In the wake of the protests, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning informs the public that salaries for teachers of the Monrovia Consolidated Schools System (MCSS) have been disbursed for September, 2019.
The Ministry states that out of the 1,223 MCSS’s teachers, nine hundred and ninety five (995) teachers with only Liberian Dollars Accounts have been paid their total salaries or 100% for the month of September in Liberian Dollars.
The Ministry further states that the balance of two hundred and twenty eight teachers (228) with both Liberian Dollars and United States Dollars Accounts, constituting 80% and 20% percent respectively, have already been disbursed to the GN Bank.
The Ministry adds that the Liberian Dollars component of 20% for the 228 employees has already been credited by the Bank while the USD component already disbursed by the Ministry is being processed for crediting to teachers’ accounts by the Bank.
Despite the ministry’s statement, the students are remaining on the streets demanding to see President Weah or get a response from the government.
As police and EPS officers threw teargas on the students many sought refuge on the main campus of the University of Liberia.
The Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) provides primary and secondary education to the population of the Monrovia metropolitan area. The MCSS was established by government charter in 1964 under the Act to Amend the Education Law to Create the Monrovia Consolidated School System.
This Developing Story will be updated throughout the day.