The Government of Liberia Needs to Abolish Volunteer Teachers in Public Schools

Teaching is a Nobel Profession. It is an ART. In the Republic of Liberia, teachers are required to have teaching certificates at the C, B and A levels or above. This means that teachers can also be University or college graduates. For some years now, the Country has had problems/challenges with the issue of Volunteer Teachers. Volunteer Teachers? Why should anyone teach free of charge when they should be paid? Why are there Volunteer Teachers in the first Place? My understanding is that these are teachers that are teaching government schools and are not on the Government of Liberia Payroll. They are considered as Volunteer Teachers. There are no such volunteer teachers in private, or religious schools operating around the country because private school teachers are regularly paid monthly. Why are there Volunteer Teachers then? First, there are public schools that exist in communities and counties across the country. Some of those schools do not have trained or professional teachers.

Yet, those schools are operating and have students without professional teachers. Should the Government close them? No. The Liberian children in those communities deserve to go to school. So, citizens living in those towns either ask those who can read and write to teach the children in the towns or some teachers who died were not replaced by qualified ones to teach, but such teachers are not recognised by the Ministry of Education authorities. There could be other several ways that volunteer teachers came about. According to the Ministry of Education, there is a little over 6,000 volunteer teachers across the country mostly from Nimba, Bong, Margibi, Lofa, Bassa and Montserrado counties. Do we need to throw them all out? No. Incorporate the professional and qualified ones and let go the incompetent ones.

Congratulations to all those men and women that have volunteered over these years as teachers in our public schools. We thank them for their sacrifices to the Government and people of Liberia. We will forever remain grateful to them. However, we think it is time to say goodbye to that nomenclature, Volunteer Teachers, in our public schools. Why should all other workers in the public service be paid monthly when some of those that are training and teaching our children and preparing them for life are volunteering in some of our public schools? According to Haynes (2005) human resource is the most significant resource of any given country. It is the people who can do all the other things to keep the state running. So, if a country wants to run well, it must do well with its education system. An education that must do well for a country and its citizens should not be left in the hands of volunteer teachers. Why are our Representatives and Senators not volunteering? Why are those working with them not volunteering? Why are those working in the Executive and Judicial branches of the Government not volunteering?

There are private and religious schools operating in Liberia. There is a policy guiding them such that those working in those schools are required to be competent, qualified, and professional. If this is happening or not, the Ministry of Education ought to know and do the needful. It is the job of the Ministry of Education to ensure that this happens. That is one of the reasons why the Ministry of Education is desterilized from the Minister down to his/her deputies, assistants, County Education Officers (CEOs), District Education Officers (CEOs), the school principals, administrations, and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) across the country. Those working at the Ministry as Ministers work at the pleasure of the Head of State, President of the Republic, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The Constitution gives him/her the right to fire those that he/she appoints in the Executive branch of Government at his or her pleasure. Therefore, they must do their best to fix and transform the education system in Liberia. That is their job. There are national and international partners to support Liberia in this endeavour.

AS I SEE IT, there is no shortage of competent, trained, and professional teachers in Liberia. Every year, public and private institutions of learning like universities and colleges or teacher training institutes are graduating students that are capable of teaching in our public schools. Have we thought about organising the new graduates, and getting them orientated to return to the counties and teach in the public schools there? The government should organise what I term as a National Service Program under which such graduates would be deployed in counties and districts in the schools that are short of qualified and professional teachers. Such National Service Program would be like the Peace Corps Program run by the United States of America. The Ministry could operate the program by providing a month-long orientation training for these young college graduates before placing them in the field. I would recommend that those National Service men and women be deployed for two academic years and compensated for their service during their time of service. Even the UN System in which I worked for more than a decade employs UN Volunteers, nationally and internationally. These volunteers are compensated. If there is any national service program presently, I think it should include the issue of solving the problem of Volunteer Teachers.

AS I SEE IT, through the orientation and deployment of the National Service Corps, they will build and gain experience around the country. The Ministry of Education could provide master’s degree scholarships locally or internationally for those completing the National Service Program at the end of their service over the two academic years. This could be an alternative route for those smart students that are incapable of funding their Education for master’s degree programs. The program should be competitive, robust, and meritorious. By operating such program, the government could gradually eradicate the Volunteer Teaching across the country and at the same time enhance the human capital of some smart Liberians that cannot personally enhance their capacities.

About the Author: Prof. Tom Kaydor, Jr. serves as an Assistant Professor at the IBB Graduate School of International Studies. He holds a PhD from the Department of Government and European Studies, the New University, Slovenia where he specialized in International Development and Diplomacy (with Security Aspects). His dissertation topic was ‘Reconceptualizing Africa’s Regional Integration for Peace and Sustainable Development.’ He earned a Master of Public Policy (MPP) specialized in Development Policy or Development Economics with Distinction from the Crawford School of Economics and Government (now the Crawford School of Public Policy), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He also obtained a Master of Arts (MA) in International Relations (Highest Distinction) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) Magna Cum Laude in Political Science from the University of Liberia where his Minor was History with Mass Communication as his Elective. Tom holds a Diploma in Leading Economic Growth from the Kennedy Graduate School, Harvard University, USA; and he holds other professional diplomas and certificates from Italy, UK, Pakistan, China, and Israel. Prof. Kaydor is also an Adjunct Professor of International Development Studies at the AME University Graduate School. Dr. Kaydor is an evidence-based researcher, a blogger, a columnist, and a published author. One can reach him via (kaydorth@ul.edu.lr or thkaydor@gmail.com).