After months of closure as a result of the Ebola crisis and based on the Education Ministry’s pronouncement that all schools reopen on February 2, our plan has been to reopen our school in Buchanan, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, on February 16; however, the Liberian parliament has rejected the February reopening date and proposed a March 2 date on grounds that the government has not put in place the proper measures and provided the necessary resources for that purpose.
Children in Class
The Liberian parliament reached the decision on Thursday, January 29. The lawmakers said they had already met and discussed with officials of the Ministries of Education and Health on the issue.
However, what may even be considered interesting – or rather confusing – is that, in spite of the lawmakers’ decision that the reopening of schools be pushed to March 2, the Ministry of Education announced on Friday in a press statement that the new date for the reopening of schools is February 16. The public is confused.
It may be recalled that in early January, the Ministry of Education announced that all schools should reopen on February 2, but most parents, educators, school administers, teachers, students and policy makers criticized the government for coming with such an abrupt schedule, arguing that parents and private schools were not ready for the arrangement in that they were experiencing many difficulties, including financial difficulties.
In view of this apparent confusion and considering our own pre-opening projects/activities and lack of enough resources, as well as most parents’ inability to register or pay their children’s school fees at the present moment, we are planning to reopen on March 2, instead of February 16.
As usual, our major problem is getting money to pay our teachers who are making enormous sacrifices in imparting knowledge onto the kids. Any assistance in this direction is welcome.
We are thankful to all of those whose assistance or involvement is enabling us to lay the ground work for reopening soon. We are all partners in progress.
Note: There will be an update on the annex construction in a subsequent article.
Help Liberia Foundation Community School 