Liberia 2nd Lowest Investor in Education Globally

Former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, Anne-Marie Slaughter, said the most important priority of the government as an investor is indeed education, but education from cradle-to-grave.

Madam Slaughter, who was the first woman to serve in that capacity from January 2009 until February 2011 under U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, added that the first five years are particularly essential, as the brain development in those years determines how well children will be able to learn and process what they learn for the rest of their lives.

“The state is therefore responsible to provide education for every child and ensure the wellbeing of that child,” says the former policy Director, international lawyer, foreign policy analyst, political scientist and public commentator. From 2002 to 2009, she was the Dean of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

But this concept of state responsibility to its people is practically nonexistent or seems to be ignored with little done to cater to the educational needs of Liberian children, if a new report released by UNESCO is anything to go by.

The new UNESCO 2021/22 Global Education Monitoring Report, presented on Sunday at the RewirEd Forum in Dubai, shows that the costs of education are falling on households disproportionately in the poorest countries.

In Liberia, 73% is picked up by households, while 27% is covered by governments - the second-highest share falling to families in the world after Haiti, the report released on Sunday says. The report says in low- and lower-middle-income countries, households cover 39% of the cost of education with the government covering the remainder, compared to only 16% in high-income countries. 

“Globally, one in six families saves to pay school fees, while 8% of families (or one in twelve) in low- and middle-income countries have to borrow money to pay for their children to go to school,” it says

In some countries such as Uganda, Haiti, Kenya, and the Philippines, 30% or more of families have to borrow to afford their children’s education. The report calls for governments to keep to their promise of providing 1 year of pre-primary and 12 years of primary and secondary education free for all. More than 2 million children under the age of 18 live in Liberia, according to a 2018 UNICEF report. “And obviously, their journey to adulthood is not an easy one.

“Children’s early years are at the heart of their life chances. They are the ‘make or break’ years when children are either provided with the opportunities to grow and thrive or they face adversity that negatively affects their bodies, minds and emotions for life,” UNICEF said in its report.

Liberia’s education system lags behind most countries, in both access and quality, with many out of school children, the UN organization noted in its report. Of the 740,000 primary school-age-children, 16 percent were physically out of school — a number that many believe has increased astronomically.

It says more than half of all students do not complete primary school, with more girls than boys failing their grades.

“Girls' education is also negatively affected by the lack of toilets and bathrooms, especially when they begin menstruating and need the privacy and safety of separate girls/boys facilities,” he said, “Only 58 percent of schools have safe drinking water and 56 percent have functional sanitation facilities.”

Public education still has many hidden costs, the UNESCO report said on Sunday. 

“About one third of household education expenditure in low- and middle-income countries comes from households with children in public schools,” it says. “Analysis of about 100 low- and middle-income countries between 2009 and 2020 found that, on average, 3.2% of households’ financial outgoings were being spent on education.”

Ghana was pinpointed as the world best performer when it comes to state investment in education.

“In Ghana, the share of education spending is not only the world’s largest but also increased from 8.9% in 2005/06 to 13.1% in 2016/17. Much of the cost comes from school uniforms and other school supplies; these accounted for almost two-fifths of the amount households were spending on education in 15 low and middle-income countries.

“We have underestimated just how much families are still paying for education when, according to governments, it should be free,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report. “On top of this, the impact of COVID-19 has squeezed family budgets further. Many simply can’t afford to pay for school costs as a result. Governments must look closer at the amount that families are paying. They must focus on ensuring that education is free at the point of access – and that the poorest aren’t priced out of a good quality education.” 

The report indicates that less than three-quarters of countries are currently regulating the amount of fees that are charged by private schools, which contribute to the burden carried by households.

“Most private secondary schools receive at least 80% of their revenue from fees in 28 out of 51 upper-middle- and high-income education systems,” it adds, “In low- and lower-middle-income countries, poor parents employ a variety of strategies to cope with private school expenses.”
This means the poorest parents in low- and lower-middle-income countries often have to resort to schools that are unregistered and cheaper, but likely to have poor facilities and offer lower-quality instruction.