Citizens In Gogein Town Urgently Plead For Help
PHOTO: Gogein Town school building two weeks to reopening of Liberian schools
By Joseph Kerkula, kerkulahjoe.rkfm@gmail.com
NIMBA, Liberia- Just over two weeks to the official opening of schools across Liberia, the Gogein Town school building in Liberia’s northeastern Nimba County is probably not ready to host students like the case of several other school facilities, especially in rural Liberia with the rainy season at its peak.
The Liberian Ministry of Education has set September 5, 2023 as the date for the opening of all grade schools throughout the country, with registration formalities supposed to be underway at this time.
This school, located on the Tappita highway in lower Nimba, was built by the locals to provide education for the growing number of kids in this area. Since the mud-built school building was constructed 8 years ago, it has remained in this condition to date.
With presidential and legislative elections just less than two months away, the various political parties and independent candidates have put education as one of the major sectors that need to be improved.
Citizens in Gorgein town are crying out for help to improve the condition of this school.
They said though government teachers have been assigned to the school, little or nothing has been done by the authorities to improve the school’s infrastructure.
Parents of kids in the area have been finding it difficult to improve the facility on their own due to hardship and the high cost of living.
This structure, which was a community self-help initiative, has been in this delabidated state for years now, the locals told Reporters.
One rainy season after another, Gorgein Town kids find themselves having to cope with difficult learning environment, let alone the lack of benches or chairs, as many of them have to using stones and sticks to sit on in them amidst being drenched by rain.
Some parents explained that despite their securing of sun-dry mud bricks and some amount of sand to improve the school facility, no one has been forthcoming with cement and other assistance.
A parent, who did not want to be named, said the job was done to draw the Liberian government’s attention to the dire need for school but their expectations failed.
They believe that governments over the years have abandoned and neglected them.
Meanwhile, a parent in Gogein Town is calling on the CDC government to help improve the school facility, as the community hopes have been dashed by local leaders, Nimba Lawmakers and other government officials.
One local trader in the Town was heard saying: “‘The Education Ministry sees such structures before school opens but does nothing. It doesn’t worth a learning facility for our children.”
Locals believe that improving the school environment will go a long way in helping to improve the quality of the education that their kids are getting.