-Between August-December 2019 as schools were in session
By Allen Lavala,lallenpaye@yahoo.com
NIMBA, Liberia-Despite the changing times and the effects of modernity on traditional Liberian culture, the Sande secret Society, like its male equivalent (the Poro), remains one of the prime custodians of the rich cultural heritage of most of Northwestern Liberia and other parts of the country.
The Sande Society is the female version of the traditional secret society, while the Poro is the male version.
But when academic schools should have been in session between August and December 2019, the traditional Sande “Bush” or Society was opened, in sharp contrast to the government and Education Ministry’s official policy. The academic year runs from September to June.
The bush schools are designed to impart skills and teach values that strengthen peaceful coexistence and prepare girls for the rigors of adulthood.
Nimba County in Northeastern Liberia saw a sequence of Sande festivities with close to 500 women and girls graduating from the society in various regions of the county between the middle and close of 2019.
On Monday, December 23, 2019 Sandy School in Gboa Yeela Town graduated over 100 after Gboa Gbalasonnor Town, which had seen a similar number walk out of the traditional school on December 18, 2019.
In October 2019, the Sehyi-Geh Sande School graduated over 100 females follow by Sehyikimpa Town and Sanniquellie-Mah Administrative District which each put out 100 in September and August 2019 respectively.
But the worrisome side of this coin is the toll the Sande society is beginning to have on formal education, which the authorities are still struggling to strengthen.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Bain-Gar Administrative District Mr. Amose Gbatu, recently expressed dismay that several young girls in his district have opted to trade formal education for the traditional Sande Society despite having spoken against it.
Gbatu is worried that the Sande schools in the district were overshadowing formal education.
He told www.newspublictrust.com in Nimba recently that all of this can be attributed to the fact that parents were wrongly advising their children.
“The classrooms are poor because majority of the young girls are in the bush,” Commissioner Gbatu said.
He said he said he does not want his comment to be construed as opposing traditional schools, clarifying that he is simply opting that the two schools run parallel. Commissioner Gbatu indicated that he is not against traditional school in the country but the truth is traditional school and formal education shouldn’t run parallel, he also said.