Get the Girls’ Education National Policy off the shelves and implement it

The Girls’ Education National Policy is a document that seeks the interest of girls and it calls for
 Meeting Millennium Development Goal 2 by providing free and compulsory primary school and reducing secondary school fees by 50 per cent
 Recruiting and training more female teachers
 Providing counseling in schools for girls
 Ending the impunity of teachers who commit sexual abuse and assault of students
 Offering life skills at schools to raise the self-esteem so girls can say no to sexual abuse
 Increasing the availability of small scale scholarships for girls
 Strengthening health system in schools
 Opening new parent-teacher associations and girls clubs
 Promoting adult literacy

This document was launched on April 18, 2006 by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The Ministry of Education, UNICEF and other partners, have worked together to achieve the goals of the document.

In an article according to Patrick Slavin, Liberia launches Girls’ Education National Policy with support from UNICEF, the president said that “the education of the girl child in Liberia is critical and an urgent matter. It is actually about human rights and human dignity it is about peace and the development of the country. That’s why achieving universal primary education for all girls and boys is one of the Millennium Development Goals set forth by the member states of the United Nations.”

Implementation of the plan to educate girls was stalled for two years. It was not until 2008 when the Ministry of Education launched nationwide dissemination program. According to the ministry, 6000 (six thousand) copies of the policy were distributed and given to teachers throughout the country.

The ministry also initiated training of trainers teachers across the country to create awareness and to sensitize the schools on the Girls’ Education National Policy.

The first phase of implementation not having started for two years after the launch of the policy, put dormant the implementation sector of this policy, and no real focus has been given to the policy since.

We should begin to ask ourselves, why should important policies that will help in achieving elements of the Poverty Reduction Strategy be used to decorate the shelves of government offices? Why aren’t they implemented so that Liberia can progress from its underdeveloped stage to more advance stages of development?

The policies of providing free and compulsory primary school and reducing secondary schools fees by 50 per cent have been implemented. However, there has been little improvement in the recruitment of female teachers, which is one of the goals of the policy. Recently, the president announced that Teacher’s College of the University of Liberia will offer free tuition; additionally, students will receive monthly stipends. Adult literacy programs have also been implemented by a few schools. The policy has nine focal points but only three of them have been implemented. What is happening to the other six points? Are they not as important as the other three? Why is strengthening the health care system in schools not being implemented? What stalled the implementation of life skills courses at schools? Shouldn’t we want to raise the self-esteem of girls? Why is the policy against sexual abuse not being implemented? Prostitution is on the rise in Liberia. Girls in school are most vulnerable. If life skills are offered, these girls, who are part of our future leaders, may begin to learn to fend off unwanted attention.

It’s been reported that in 2010 in Kenya over 1000 teachers have been sacked for sexual abuse against students within the last couple of years. Liberia can do the same if we fully implement this policy.

The Minister of Education in an interview with UNMIL Radio stated that 300 public schools have been built over the years to help combat illiteracy in Liberia. I commend them for that, but if all focal points of the Girls’ Education National Policy were being implemented in these newly built schools as a start, it’ll show that the process is on and the policy is not just another irrelevant document to the growth of this country.

Private schools, however, have been left out of the process. They play a significant role in the education our people. Why is the ministry not making sure the policy is implemented in these schools? Shouldn’t there be good health care systems and counseling for girls enrolled in private schools too? The policy should also cover girls of private schools. To conclude, the Girls’ Education National Policy is essential to the development of school-age girls. Mr. Alan Doss, former head of UNMIL, stated that “Quality basic education for the girl child is the essential prerequisite for the conquest of poverty”.

To conclude, the Ministry of Education needs to empower the implementation sector of the policy to actively implement, monitor and evaluate the progress of the girls' policy. The government must do more to improve the quality of education in both private and public schools. The poor performance of students over the past two years in the West African Examination Council and also the entrance exam of the University of Liberia both are evidence of the poor quality of education in Liberia. Lets move Mama Liberia to the next level.