EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN
Creators: name: Kamil, Luqman
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: Developmental and Educational Psychology

description: <strong>Liberia’s Schools Are in Disrepair</strong> The majority of Liberian schools were damaged beyond usability during the 14 years of civil wars that ended in 2003. The government does not have the funds or the manpower to rebuild them. The few available state schools are located mainly in Monrovia, and lack the qualified teachers, money and facilities to be effective.* Buildings lack amenities such as safe drinking water, latrines and suitable chairs. Many schools are seriously overcrowded, and in many cases students have to sit in the floor.** <strong>An Education Wake-Up Call</strong> Of the schools that <em>are</em> open, many do not have qualified staff. According to “Liberia Education Crisis: A 3-Part Series Reveals Schools in Chaos”<em> </em>many people who stepped in to try to keep the schools going were/are not qualified teachers. In her article on the “Liberia Education Crisis” mentioned above, Mae Azongo states, “Liberia’s schools have 20,000 untrained teachers without a bachelor’s degree or associate degree from a teacher training institution.” Many teachers are unpaid volunteers. Though trying their best to help the country through an educational crisis, the results speak for themselves: a huge wake-up call in 2013, when <em>every one</em> of almost 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia failed the entrance exams. <strong>The Numbers Speak for Themselves</strong> <em>In the year 2000</em>, <em>Liberian adults had an average of 2.5 years of schooling.</em> The 2017 literacy rate for adults ages 15-24, who are able to write and read a simple complete sentence about themselves, was 49%. Sixty-two percent of primary-school-age children are currently <em>not</em> in school, and this percentage increases dramatically in secondary school.*** Of the 48% of Liberian children who <em>are</em> in school in primary grades, 65% of boys and 73% of girls drop out by grade 5. And the net enrollment for secondary school is only 34%.**** <strong>Something Must Be Done to Fix the Education System</strong> <strong>Education Is Important for Many Reasons</strong> We are currently focusing on the poorest communities in Liberia, where the state of affairs worsens daily. The need to provide the Liberian people with the basic amenities of life, such as food, clean water, shelter and education is our topmost priority. But no matter how hard we work, nothing can change the lives of the people more than quality education. Education is key to the healthy development of a people and their nation. Providing this to the children will ensure their future generations will have the opportunity to look towards a brighter future. In order to achieve this goal, we at the Ri’ayah Foundation are seeking your donations, which are urgently needed to help us accomplish this worthy goal. <strong>Quality Teachers</strong> Our aim is to train teachers who can go into the destitute, damaged and remote areas in Liberia and work with the parents and guardians of the children to encourage them to pursue an education—qualified teachers, who can teach not only grade school, but high school subjects to prepare students to pass college and trade school entrance exams, enabling them to pursue career goals such as nursing and journalism, mechanic and agriculturist. With proper nutrition and healthcare provided side by side, we will build a community that is safe for learning and is motivated to strive towards a successful future.