"30% of children are out of school in the city, but more importantly, 80% do not attend school in the bush."
Tony, monitoring and evaluation officer
The school consists of a single building, with a few faded posters hanging on the wall of the main room, including a map of the country. Harris Memorial Rural Public School is a rural school like so many others in Grand Bassa County. An hour's drive from Buchanan, this primary school has 130 pupils and lessons are taught in the morning by four teachers, only one of whom is paid. The other three have received a week's training in Monrovia. ‘But we had to pay for our own transport there,’ says Franck, a volunteer teacher since 2011 who grows cassava in the afternoons and at weekends.
This morning, around 20 girls from the school were vaccinated against HPV. Tony, the monitoring and evaluation officer at Grand Bassa County for the Ministry of Education, was present. He paints a picture of education in the county: "If we look at towns like Buchanan, around 70% of pupils are in school. In rural areas, however, the figure is only 20%. In other words, 30% of children are out of school in the city, but more importantly, 80% do not attend school in the bush. This is, of course, a huge problem!"
In fact, Liberia is sadly known for being one of the countries with the highest number of children who are out of school. Nationwide, UNICEF estimates that nearly half of all children are not enrolled in school. There are various reasons for this.
A national campaign
To reverse this sad situation, the government launched a major national campaign in 2024 called Back to My Classroom. The goal: to get 250,000 out-of-school children back into school within the next three years. To carry out this campaign, three ministries decided to join forces: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Karyou Johnson, Superintendent of Grand Bassa, explains: "Education is essential, in Liberia as everywhere else in the world. But we know the figures here. For a child to go or return to school, it is not enough to convince the parents or build a new school; the child must also be registered, in good health and off the streets. Each of the three ministries therefore has a role to play. Just as I myself, as county superintendent, have my own responsibility. To this end, we have, for example, organised a meeting of the county security council to give direct instructions to local leaders and all stakeholders, including the religious council, the Muslim council and the traditional council, to inform all citizens that children must go to school. Even those with disabilities."
Grand Bassa as a model
In order to implement the campaign on the ground, the three ministries agreed to use Grand Bassa County as a spearhead. An official ceremony was held in Buchanan at the end of June. UNICEF Liberia, the campaign's technical partner, was also present. On this occasion, various surveys were conducted in the city, its surroundings and further afield in the bush to identify hundreds of out-of-school children. It was also an opportunity to register all those who had never been registered before. Since the start of the school year in September, many of them are now sitting on school benches every morning, often for the first time, like Mary, Veronica and Fayor.
The launch at the end of June was also accompanied by an HPV vaccination campaign and the distribution of backpacks and other materials to children.
Lower Harlandsville School is one of the schools that has welcomed these new pupils. Emmanuel, the principal, is realistic: ‘The vast majority of parents are poor. If they have finally enrolled their children in our school or sent them back here, it is largely because the BTMC campaign exempts them from paying registration fees and the obligation to buy uniforms, which is not a negligible cost for them.’ In total, the school has enrolled 185 “back to school” pupils, as they are known here, including 101 girls. This is quite a challenge for the management, says the principal: ‘Our school already had more than 400 pupils. Taking in nearly half as many again is a huge challenge because we don't suddenly have new space, new classrooms or new teachers.’
Partnerships have been established with certain private schools, such as the Rilo Foundation Education School, as well as with some private companies. AcelorMittal, a major firm in Buchanan, has provided chairs and benches, for example.
"You must ensure that your children are in school rather than on the streets selling, in the name of Jesus!"
Reverend Julius Slewion
As the superintendent pointed out, school should be everyone's business. The BTMC campaign strongly emphasises the importance of everyone getting involved, whether it's ensuring that children go to school or that they stay there. Reverend Julius Slewion hammered home the same message during his sermon on Wednesday evening, addressing his congregation in his church in Buchanan: ‘As a priest, it is also my duty to tell you that education is paramount. Hallelujah! You must ensure that your children are in school rather than on the streets selling, in the name of Jesus!’
When we met him the day before, the Reverend clarified: ‘My responsibility is also to encourage parents, to explain to them the role and importance of education in building a society and securing their future, but also the future of our church.’ Nevertheless, he was keen not to cast shame on them: ‘Beyond the financial factor, I know that some parents in my community are reluctant to send their children to school. Simply because the teachers are not present or do not act as they should. I therefore call on the government to ensure that they do their job properly and are also paid.’
Absent teachers, unpaid teachers... The Back to My Classroom campaign does not deny this reality. On the contrary, ensuring salaries and better training for teachers, as well as putting an end to ghost teachers and curbing corruption, is an integral part of the government's campaign.
Similarly, children with disabilities should not be left behind.
‘So folks, we have to get ourselves involved in it.’
A large sign reading ‘Back to My Classroom Movement, Grand Bassa Join Us’ still hangs over the large market in Buchanan, a remnant of the launch on 30 June, but also a reminder to everyone that the campaign is now part of everyday life. It must be said that there is a crowd here at lunchtime. ‘Why are you taking photos?’ we are asked regularly. We explain that we are doing a report for UNICEF on the campaign and children out of school. And whether it's the fish sellers or the keke repairman, the two policemen sitting in the shade or the old man pushing a wheelbarrow full of socks, most people seem to know about it. One woman tells us that she has just enrolled her 13-year-old daughter in school. Another says he heard Radio Gbehzohn talk about it this morning.
‘As a local media outlet, and a radio station at that, of course we have to participate in the campaign,’ emphasised Emmanuel Bonzu, who was hosting the Good Morning Bassa programme at 8 a.m. this morning. He took the opportunity to conduct a live interview with Tony, the monitoring and evaluation officer. ‘No child should be left out, every child must be in school,’ said the journalist as he introduced his programme for the day. Before concluding, ‘So folks, we have to get ourselves involved in it. Parents, the media, government, officials. So we're going to help in the process. Yeah!’