Despite A Professional Body
PHOTO: The Author
By Dr. Moses Blonkanjay Jackson
Chairman, Board of Directors/PEAL
December 9, 2025
Thinking Thoughts
In my Thinking Thoughts, I considered the daunting task that Education Minister Jarso Jallah faces and how she is left alone to carry the burden while education professionals have selected to be “benched.”
In recent times, the Ministry of Education, under the leadership of Dr. Jarso Jallah, has taken bold steps to improve the quality of education. One of such steps is the ongoing revision and alignment of several teacher certification programs for teachers’ smooth transitions to degree-granting teacher programs. Despite those bold steps, the isolation and silence of education professionals is tantamount to negativity towards the Minister’s efforts and progress.
Degrading Status of Liberian Teachers
Liberia’s teachers continue to suffer from low pay, low respect, and low professional standing. Every year, we repeat the same complaints, and every year, conditions barely improve. But beyond the usual blame on government, budget constraints, and weak unions, there is an uncomfortable truth we rarely confront: those who should be championing teachers, the holders of Master’s and Doctoral degrees in education—have largely gone silent.
This silence has created a leadership crisis right at the heart of the sector. The very people who should be the loudest advocates for teachers’ welfare and professional dignity have become what many now call “toothless bulldogs”—big titles, impressive degrees, intimidating credentials, but no bite when it comes to defending teachers.
Degrees Without Advocacy
PEAL-The Professional Educators Association of Liberia, led by a passionate and proven education specialist, Dr. Cecelia Cassell (PhD), was organized as a professional haven for teachers and people who hold degrees in education. By being educational degree holders, one of their key tasks was to champion the advocacy for the well-being of teachers and the sector. Unfortunately, little has been achieved simply due to complacency among education degree holders, while classroom teachers remain victimized.
A disturbing pattern has emerged across Liberia. Individuals who obtain higher degrees in education immediately migrate into administrative offices, NGO jobs, consultancy roles, or political appointments. These moves are not wrong in themselves. But what becomes troubling is the disappearance act that follows.
Once they get their degrees, many distance themselves from the classroom and from teacher-related issues. They no longer attend teacher meetings, protests, workshops, or recognition events. On World Teachers Day, you rarely see Master’s or Ph.D. holders marching with the same teachers who once sat beside them in dusty classrooms.
In short, the people with the strongest intellectual firepower to address teacher problems are nowhere to be found when teacher issues arise.
Teachers Are Afraid; Degree Holders Are Absent
The ordinary classroom teacher cannot easily speak out. Fear of punishment—transfer, demotion, salary disturbance, or dismissal—keeps many from raising their voices. They know too well that the system often punishes those who demand better conditions.
This fear should compel advanced degree holders to step forward. They are better protected. They have visibility, status, and influence. Their research background positions them to challenge policies and propose reforms. Their degrees give them credibility in high-level conversations.
Yet too many prefer to stay quiet, enjoying the benefits of academic prestige while leaving their colleagues stranded.
A Profession Abandoned from Within
Liberian teachers constantly hear promises about “support,” “reform,” and “capacity building,” but in practical terms, they remain on their own. The neglect is not only external—from government or donors—but internal, from those best equipped to fight for them.
This internal abandonment is one of the main reasons teachers’ “bad luck” persists. The profession lacks strong, vocal, organized, and consistent advocates among its most educated members. A Ph.D. or Master’s degree should be a megaphone for advocacy—not a quiet escape route to brighter offices.
A Greener Pastures Mentality
Let’s be honest: some education degree holders view teaching only as a steppingstone to bigger opportunities. Once the degree is earned, they are gone—never looking back, never mentoring teachers, never writing a policy brief, never standing with teachers during crises.
This “greener pastures syndrome” drains the system of the very people it trained to lead reforms. The academic ladder becomes a personal escape path instead of a platform for collective change.
This is how the bulldog becomes toothless: impressive on paper but unwilling to fight.
Reclaiming the Bite
If the welfare of teachers is ever going to improve, the Professional Educator Association of Liberia (PEAL), which comprises of Liberia’s highly educated education professionals, must step up. PEAL must:
- Show up for teachers’ programs and recognition days.
- Speak boldly on behalf of those who cannot speak.
- Use their research and policy knowledge to influence national decisions.
- Mentor younger teachers and build networks of advocacy.
- Provide technical guidance to unions, counties, and education ministries.
Liberia cannot continue with an education system where the brightest minds abandon the trenches, and the loudest voices choose silence.
The Big Question
To this end, the big question before all of us is simple but urgent:
When will the bulldogs in PEAL grow back their teeth? Without equivocation, I say NOW!
As long as those who hold educational degrees do not rise up, amalgamate, pool their intellect and resources, and shout with one voice, Dr. Jallah’s daunting task to improve teaching, and President Boakai’s ARREST platform would be a simple matter of “business as usual”.
Until PEAL’s Master’s and Doctorate holders decide to stand with teachers—not just in theory but in action—Liberian teachers will continue to live with the same misfortune: underpaid, undervalued, and unheard.
Rise up PEAL!!! Rise up from your slumber EDUCATIONAL DEGREE HOLDERS!!
About the Author
The Rivercess man, Dr. M. Blonkanjay Jackson, is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Professional Educators Association of Liberia (PEAL), and CEO and founder of the Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP). The Mwalimu-koh can be reached at 0886 681 315