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             Brain Drain Hits Liberia

MADISON, WI June 8, 2006: Liberia which boasted of
sound lawyers and other educated professionals is now
suffering an educational brain drain as a result of
the 15 years civil war. According to research
emanating from Liberia, it is estimated that the
illiteracy rate of Liberians is at 85 to 90 percent.
Before the war, the educational system of Liberia was
centralized in that education was available to
Liberians who resided in Big cities. A case in point
was the District of Flelelah, Lower Bong County where
my late Father had a farm 100 miles from the city.
There were children who could not enroll at the local
public or private schools because of the distant.
Government as well as local Government had no plans to
condition the road as well as provide transportation
for Liberian children to get to school. The children
were willing to go to school but there were no means
of getting on campus thereby leaving them to play in
the village and work on their parents’ farm for the
rest of their entire livelihood. Since these children
had no access to school they end up acquiring informal
education. Some of them due to their parent pressure
went thru the hardship of walking said miles to reach
Flelelah and enroll in school. The situation in
Flelelah occurred everywhere in the country. The weak
one could not continue their academic sojourn.

The civil war is over and the Liberian people have
elected an educated leader. During the civil war
because of revenge, ethnicity and hate, we Liberians
killed some of the brightest mind in our country.
Encourage by the fact that some Liberians like me and
other had the opportunity to travel abroad in search
of greener pasture. I agreed with the President of
Liberia, as she makes education a cornerstone on her
agenda for a new Liberia. I Hope that the President
budget to the legislature will reflect her point of
focus on education not only mere rhetoric. The hour
has come for all Liberians to help change the
educational agenda for our country. I am calling for a
National Conference on Education to help lay out a
workable plan of action that will address Liberia
educational needs. We can’t rely on the old system
because it has failed our people. Let all of us get
involve for a better educational system.

To my fellow Liberians in the Diasporas, it is time to
make use of the opportunity we have and prepare
ourselves for a better tomorrow. We must remember we
are the future of Liberia. I will like to applaud
those Liberians who after acquiring advance education
are going back home to contribute their quota to the
rebuilding of their motherland. This I think is a
noble idea. For us who are here and not ready to go
yet must see reasons in advancing ourselves
educationally so that Liberia can benefit from us. In
this like I like to congratulate all Liberians for
their educational advancement and will hope that they
keep the courage and persevere to higher height so
that we can reduce illiteracy in our country.


Isaac T. Settro, Jr.
Senior Correspondent
OnLiberianMeduim 


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