RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN LIBERIA

Paper presented at the All Liberian National Conference
Columbia, MD, April 16, 2005
Presented by
DR. SAKUI W. G. MALAKPA
Professor, College of Education
UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO

From humanistic and existentialist perspectives, education is the development of the whole being and the advancement of his or her environment and culture (Schilling, 1986; Miller, 1984). From these perspectives, education has two major purposes: (A) to help an individual become the best of whatever he or she needs to be, and (B) to transmit culture (Vansickle, 1990; Jones, 1986; Chiang, 1986; Zialcita, 1990). In juxtaposition, Economics of Education characterizes education as a tool for human resource development. These schools of thought are brought under one umbrella by the view that the real yardstick of development is the extent to which development and its corollaries satisfy "the socio-cultural ne! eds of individuals and the community" (Makatiansar, 1979, p.11). In other words, the true purpose of education is to improve lives and enhance culture (Puri, 1992). Thus, critics from the left, right, and center unanimously underscore the importance of education (Malakpa, 1996).

As education is incontrovertibly contributive to personal development, socio-economic growth and development, and cultural enhancement, and given the extent to which Liberia was destroyed by the civil war, this paper offers recommendations for educational reform in Liberia. However, it need be clarified that all is not lost with regard to education in Liberia. There have always been trained and dedicated Liberian educators and educationists who excogitated admirable and effective approaches within the Liberian education system; otherwise, most of us would not be here. The real purpose of the task at hand therefore is to build upon the invaluable qualities of the Liberian e! ducation system and simultaneously seek changes (especially systemic changes) that will ameliorate the weaknesses of the system. To that end, given the brevity of time, this paper highlights only a few key issues.

Educational Planning: To be effective, education must be planned judiciously and systematically. Educational planning however becomes art for art sake when it is unhinged from implementation. On the other hand, implementation requires political will, skill, efficient administration, and adequate funding. Thus, to realize its maximum contribution, education in Liberia must be planned and implemented systematically. Currently, there are a number of educational planning documents in Liberia while there are movements to plan education further; some of these efforts are laudable. However, efficacious planning must transcend satisfying international donors to plan in light of the prevailing remote and proximate environments of the country. Such planning—innovative and participatory—must include the true experts of education—the school administrators and teachers who have endured the bumps and bruises of the system, worked with almost nothing and yet, have not left the system. Far more than external experts, these people can make valuable contribution to the planning process.

Educational planning in Liberia must be comprehensive, dynamic, and elastic to allow for flexibility as well as regional and subject matter elaborations. This process must allow for regional control of some aspects of the education system, the establishment of local boards to monitor the system, and equal provision of services. Above all, this process must be backed by political will to ensure funding, efficient administration and implementation; without such, the entire process is a mere academic exercise with no practical consequences.

Critical Issues: For more than ten years (Malakpa, 1988-89), I have accentuated educational reform to target the “elusive trio in quality education in Liberia.” Put succinctly, first, the current “black box” approach must be modified or replaced so that education truly becomes a planned human resource development process. For example, at primary and secondary levels, the system can identify and/or encourage students toward specific disciplines and fields. This enables the system to approximate and categorize the type, number and quality of human resources d! eveloped in accordance with national needs. Second, there is a need to revisit the teaching of Liberian history to ensure accuracy and inclusion of the history of various regions of the country. Third, the education system needs to embrace and enhance the invaluable qualities of African/Liberian culture, including languages, some of which are available in print and yet missing from the schools.

Crucial Areas of Education: Like any other field, education has different areas, segments, and sub-categories. Presently, the Liberian education system focuses on primary, secondary and tertiary systems. To be versatile, holistic, and truly comprehensive, the Liberian education system must transcend these areas to accentuate other areas. For example, the importance of a good start cannot be overemphasized. Hence, there is need for increased emphasis on the quality of pre-kindergarten education. At the other extreme, vocational education (including the technical areas) needs to be emphasized strongly at secondary and tertiary (especially junior college) levels. The establishment of regional junior colleges for this purpose will be a great start. (The success of the BWI model makes it difficult to dismiss this point cavalierly.) Likewise, adult education should be expanded to make the adult population functionally literate. Similarly, there is a dire need to establish and seriously support special education and rehabilitation programs to enable thousands of people disabled because of the war, poverty, hereditary or other causes to be independent, employable and employed. Achieving this goal will have prodigious quantifiable and unquantifiable benefits for the individuals! involved as well as their communities and the economy in general.

Preparing, Employing and Retaining Teachers: Liberia’s teacher training institutes and education programs at tertiary levels have been instrumental in the preparation of teachers for primary and secondary schools. It is therefore imperative that these institutions be rebuilt and expanded. Moreover, the number of teacher training institutes should be increased while, at tertiary levels, pre-service teacher education programs are improved and diversified. Diversification of programs will address the need for licens! ure and specialization areas in education. For such areas, certificates and licenses should be renewable thereby promoting in-service training of teachers as a means of maximizing teacher efficiency.

The preparation of teachers is only the first step to equipping the nation’s classrooms with qualified teachers. It goes without saying that these teachers must be employed. In that regard, even if it requires special incentives, rural schools should be no less equipped than urban ones.

Employment of teachers must be commensurate with retention of teachers. It is undeniable that teachers are the pillars of the education system; these people taught us and are now teaching our children, the future leaders of Liberia. Yet, teachers are among the lowest paid in society. Thus, with the exception of the truly devoted, in the face of the slightest temptation, they are likely to leave the teaching profession for greener pastures. The system must therefore endeavor to pay teachers well and regularly. At the same time, there is need to monitor the system carefully to avoid the! paying of “ghost teachers.”

Subsidizing Non-governmental Institutions: A substantial proportion of the Liberian population received its education in non-governmental institutions. These institutions survived because of government subsidies. There is a need to resume the provision of such subsidies on the basis of equity and equality. Fairness is imperative in this regard because, in the past, non-governmental schools established in the hinterland recei! ved minimal government subsidy. The lion share of such subsidies (79%) went to schools in Montserrado County. Of that amount, Ricks Institute alone traditionally received 27.5%. (Sawyer, 1980).

Macro Administration Reform: To scorch a snake, one hits it on the head. In like manner, there is need for serious reform of the macro educational administration system of Liberia. The Ministry of Education, for instance is over due for serious bureaucratic and administrative overhaul to reflect the prevailing circumstances and support necessary changes. To illustrate, with an increase in the number of tertiary institutions, there is a need for greater than usual atten! tion to the administration of such institutions. As the number of these institutions increase, there will be a need for a separate Ministry of Higher Education.

Conclusion: In spite of achievements in education in Liberia, there is a desperate need for educational reform in the country. The recommendations presented herein are only the tip of the iceberg. The task is much more humongous than can be covered in such a short presentation. I

n sum, the truth remains that it is much easier to recommend what should be done than carry out one’s own recommendations. It is equally true that the reforms herein presented require enormous human, material and financial resources. At the same time, the presenter is not oblivious of the prevailing Liberian socio-political and socio-economic conditions. We know the war destroyed the country beyond description. Nonetheless, if education truly is to be a tool for personal development, human resource development, and cultural advancement, and if there is a drop of political will toward these ends, these recommendations must be considered seriously. This is because no country can develop at a respectable—let alone a desired—pace without developing its human resources through education. Hence, Harbison and Myers (1965) postulate that if a nation cannot develop its human resources, it cannot build anything else, be it a modern political system, a sense of national unity or a prosperous economy.

References

About the Author

Dr. Malakpa is a Professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Physical and Special Education at the University of Toledo. He teaches courses in Special Education, Mainstreaming/Inclusion, Cultural Diversity, and has also led African Studies seminars for the Adult Liberal Studies (ALS) program. He coordinated the Vision Program at the University and teaches all vision courses.

In addition to his scholarly articles and monographs, Dr. Malakpa is an avid commentator on African issues, including the brain drain and people with disabilities. He also wrote The Village Boy, set in his home county in Liberia, and is a regular presenter at both national and international conferences.

Born in Lofa County in Liberia, he was attending the Lutheran Training Institute (LTI) until President Tolbert awarded him a scholarship to attend Albert Academy in Freetown, Sierra Leone. From there he went to Florida State University where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree and then on to Harvard University where he earned another master's and his doctorate. He then earned his postdoctoral degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.