IPNews-Monrovia, Liberia-16 May 2018: In spite of increasing and grappling with challenges facing 21st century education in Liberia, a small building in derelict condition with poor visibility, approximately of 30 feet by 45 feet in dimension, is housing three different schools with three principals in Jacksonville community in Harper City, Maryland county, principals of two of the institutions have said.
According to the principals, since the tenure of former President William R. Tolbert, who was overthrown April 12, 1980, in a military coup by 17 enlisted soldiers of Armed forces of Liberia, the building housing the schools had since been used as the traditional home for people living with disabilities-‘the Group of 77’.
Making the confirmation Tuesday, May 1, 2018, when journalists from the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) toured school facilities in Maryland County as part of activities marking the celebration of World Press Freedom Day, the two principals said the building is currently being occupied by teachers and students of East Harper Elementary and Junior High School, Sarah Elizabeth Gibson Nursery and Elementary School and the Jacksonville Night School.
The building, as a public school houses East Harper Elementary and Junior High School, established in 1958 as an annex to Tubman University formerly William V.S. Tubman Technical College which currently has an enrollment of 833 pupils of whom more than 50 percent are girls, operates the morning session with different set of uniforms, blue and white, while Sarah Elizabeth Gibson Nursery and Elementary School, established in 1970, with green and white uniforms as well operates the session in the afternoon, and the latter depicts the session in the night.
Though the facial expression of the principal of the morning session could suggest that she was emotionally unstable with the presence of a team of journalists, she traded question as to whether local education authorities in the county were aware of the team of reporters to conduct interviews at the school.
Joanna Sackor, who had been a school teacher since 1999, highlighted several challenges including the lack of better sitting capacity for students, the absence of teaching materials and school supplies, poor visibility in the classrooms among others.
“Inside the building is very dark with poor ventilation; lack of playground for the children, poor sitting capacity and lack of school supplies,” the principal of Sarah E. Gibson Nursery and Elementary School lamented.
With a classroom size of approximately 10 feet by 16 feet, more than 50 students sit on the floor and on plaited mats purchased by parents for their children while in the classrooms. It was also gathered that students are often coerced to pay L$5.00 as sitting fees before they sit on the mat in order to participate in class discussions.
In a statement also, the principal of East Harper Elementary and Junior High School, Ambrose S. Nollen expressed similar concerns that the learning environment was quite challenging to teachers, students and parents.
“The learning environment is a little bit challenging because it is not conducive for learning as there is noise pollution due to close proximity to the main road and worst of all, the size of the classroom as well as the lack of school supplies are issues of grave concern to us,” Nollen indicated.
He also revealed that with a total enrollment of 188 students sit on the floor the entire afternoon during the learning process and are clustered from one classroom to another.
When contacted via phone to provide details and possible interventions, the county education authorities including the chief education officer and the district education officer especially for Harper education District said they had gone to Zwedru in Grand Gedeh County to attend a workshop and will be available the following day to comment on issues raised by the journalists and are yet to show up until the team of Journalist departed Happer, MAARYLAND County .
All efforts to get to them proved fruitless as they refused to answer their mobile phones which rang endlessly.
