Lack of School Hinders Kids’ Education in Zogeipa, Nimba County

By: Laymah Kollie

Liberia- On a normal school day, kids in Zogeipa sprinkled around the town. Some were seen playing at the center squad of the village and others on the outskirts of the town. These children, according to their parents have never sat in a classroom. A town with approximately 2,000 inhabitants doesn’t have a functional learning facility.
“No school. If you want your children to go to school then you have to find somebody in Sanniquellie for them to stay with. No school around here” Jerry Paye a father of three said.

According to residents of the town, children in the area usually wait to reach their youthful stage before taking classes in a nearby village (Zuwalay). Another alternative for parents is to relocate their children to relatives in other accessible places like Sanniquellie and Ganta in order to have them in school.

For kids schooling in Zuwalay, it is a struggle for them leaving early morning from their hometown to return by evening. The walking distance from Zogeipa to Zuwalay is about 5 hours.

Explaining the difficulty Jerry said “Some of them can walk from here to Zuwalay to school. Sometimes they come back in the evening, sometimes they stay there”.
This condition is only suitable for average age children thus stopping younger ones from accessing education.

Speaking to team of Reporters, 76 years old Samuel Zarwolo stressed “children are not going to school because the next town is far”
The situation has created an avenue for children to grow out of their parent’s site as many parents in Zogeipa are seeking support from relatives outside their village to raise their kids as a means of experiencing schooling opportunity.

This is a hard decision for 28 years old Cecelia Gba as she is not even sure about her kids being in school since they relocated to separate guidance.
“The first one in Yekepa staying with my sister in law whiles the second one in Sanniquellie. They should help us for our children to go to school because I don’t think my two children are in school seh”

However, a deteriorating school building located at the entrance of the Village was constructed in 2010 by a Humanitarian (Harrison Duo). In conversation with this Reporter, Residents narrated that there has never been government assigned teachers at the facility. Stating, that for the few time the school operated was by the effort of the inhabitants who compensated teachers (high school graduates in the area) through crops produced from gardens.

A 2019 UNICEF report found that 49% of children in Liberia did not attend primary school, with poverty being the main reason for non-attendance. According to World Bank 2018 report, 73% of children between ages 6-11 in rural Liberia are out of school.
Like in many low- and middle-income countries, the Liberian education system faces several quality-related education challenges, including an undersupply of teaching and learning materials, and a high proportion of unqualified teachers, which is reflected in low learning outcomes.

Also, According to the 2021/2022 Annual School Census Report, the primary school completion rate was at 10 percent for boys and 11 percent for girls. According to the World Bank and UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the lower secondary completion rate was at 46% for boys and 42% for girls in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Residents are seeking government’s intervention in upgrading the learning facility in the area. In their plead having a functional school facility in the town will help rebrand the future of their kids.

For 24 years old Prince, a father of four who didn’t get formal education fears if nothing is done by government to upgrade the facility, his children might end up like him. He echoed calls to the Government of Liberia and humanitarians to help in the process.
“I didn’t go to school and I have four children so I’m praying let government help us with school around here for my children to learn. We want the government to help us with the education, because it will help us”

At the same time, Old lady Kou added “I kindly asking the government to help us, at least let them send people so our children can go to school”.

This Story was produced through the Female Journalists Association of Liberia Newsroom Leadership Program.