IPNews-Monrovia, Liberia- 2- March 2018: Sinoe County District #1 Representative Crayton O. Duncan, has disclosed that the joint Committee on Education, Judiciary, Labor, Youth and Sports and the Ways, Means and Finance of the House of Representatives is currently reviewing an Act entitled: “National Student Cadet Act of 2018”, to be formally passed into law.
Rep. Duncan to newsmen that the Joint Committee has been mandated by the Plenary on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, during its13th day sitting to study the Act and report to in two weeks.
The proposed law is intended to assist impoverished parents and guardians and self-supported students as well as to prevent mass dropout due to the high cost of education throughout Liberia.
The House’s decision to review the Act was prompted by a communication from Sinoe County District #1 Representative Crayton O. Duncan.
Rep. Duncan said the Act, when approved, would empower Liberian students through the institutionalization of the National Student Cadet Program where students would be financially empowered through the direct support of government and business partners.
He argued that “Liberia has developed a number of key national documents on education. While the Education Law of 2002 calls for free and compulsory primary education, the Education Reform Act of 2011 establishes free compulsory primary education and free compulsory basic education of Liberia citizens.”
Sections five and six of the proposed law said: “That the student cadet program which was a national student empowerment initiative in the past, added economic value to the academic sojourn of the Liberian students, except that said initiative was not legalized; and that this Act legalizes the National Student Cadet Program to empower Liberian students, ease their financial burden and prevent dropout.”
The Act further said, according to section seven, that each governmental ministry, agency and public corporation will allocate at least 10% of its budget for the purpose of employing Liberian student cadets:
“That each shall hire a minimum of 500 Liberian student cadets attending universities and a minimum of 1000 Liberian student cadets attending senior secondary schools provided that 40% of the total student cadets are from Montserrado County and 60% are from the other counties;
That each government agency and public corporation shall hire a minimum of 200 Liberian student cadets attending universities and 700 Liberian students cadets attending senior secondary schools provided up to 40% of the total cadets from Montserrado County and 60% is anticipated to come other rural counties.”
