Liberia News: HOUSE WANTS REPORT ON STATUS OF FREE, COMPULSORY EDUCATION

Monrovia-February-21-TNR:Plenary of the House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Education to provide a report on the current status of the Free and Compulsory Primary Education.

As part of what the lawmakers want the Minister of Education account for are the impact of the Special and inclusive Education for the visually impaired and the Deaf society coupled with the vision and roadmap for the current administration in improving the educational sector of Liberia.

The citing of the Minister of Education was triggered by a communication from Montserrado County District Four Representative, Michael Thomas.

The lawmaker brought to the attention of the long-lasting ineffectiveness of the Free and Compulsory Primary Education and the Special Education Policy instituted by the Government of Liberia across the educational sector of the country.

He said, “As we are aware, the government’s policy on Free and Compulsory Education and Special education in Liberia with its introduction in 2001 and reaffirmed in 2011, is an Educational Reform Act passed by the Liberian Legislature in 2011 to improve the country’s quality of education, to encourage school enrollment, reform the governance structure of the education system and to fulfill the constitutional provision that obligates the government to develop the minds of Liberian children and people living with disability through the Special Inclusive Education Division of the Ministry of Education; thus neglectfully leading the deaf and visually impaired into becoming mere street beggars.”

He told his colleagues that unfortunately, policies and programs outlined by the Ministry of Education have heavily challenged the educational sector, with state actors labeling the sector as a mess with little or no improvement.

“It will satiate your curiosity to note that to a larger extent, the availability of education to every Liberian child, and people living with disability will shape the minds of a huge portion of our future leaders in the right perspective and reduce the dangers posed by illiteracy to the basic equity in the social, moral, and political construct of our nation Liberia,” the Montserrado District Four lawmaker said.

Some of the issues he raised are that kids who carry those visually impaired individuals for their begging daily are also challenged because they do not have the opportunity to attain an education. “We passionately hope this communication will be given keen attention as we continue to exercise our oversight responsibility as the people’s deputies,” the lawmaker added.

After the Montserrado County District Four lawmaker has completed deliberation on the issue, a motion was proffered by Alex Noah citing the Minister of Education to appear before Plenary on Thursday of this week to provide information on the issues being raised.

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