Dr. M. Blonkanjay Jackson (MsEd, EdM, EdD), Education Engineer & Development Specialist
August 20, 2024
Thinking Thoughts
Following my quiet time and thinking thoughts, I reflected the 20th Century hymn, “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of lost suffering and shame” I sense the hymnist’s key message was embedded in the chorus: “I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown.” Although the cross signifies acceptance of death or suffering, shame, and sacrifice, it also bolsters hope. I wondered why the song writer selected to cherish and cling to a condemned cross that was an emblem of suffering and shame with hope to receive a golden trophy?
My Brabees, but isn’t that how we teachers, students and parents in Liberia behave? Don’t we teachers cherish the messy chaotic, corrupt, and compromised old rugged education sector which is Liberia’s “emblem of suffering and shame” and expect to exchange it for a more quality sector in an unforeseen future? Hasn’t that been the tradition and goals of all and sundry education ministers, teachers, students, and parents over the decades? For an answer, I experienced an awareness that Minister Jarso Jallah and her deputy Amos A. Fully were the newest education cross bearers who would be compelled to cherish and cling to the old, rugged education sector which is emblem of suffering and shame.
You see, in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there are accounts of how Jesus was betrayed, tortured, and killed an old rugged cross. According to the Christian religion, the cross is positioned as a symbol that God sacrificed his son, Jesus, for believers to be saved from Judgement Day. In those days, death by hanging on the cross was the ultimate punishment for individuals the Jews believed had breached the teaching of the laws.
For the sake of my Brabbees, to cling is to hang onto something or somebody. Cherish is to love, protect, and care for someone or something that is important to you. Ephesians 5:29 noted, that the husband should love his wife, even as his own flesh which he “nourishes and cherishes, even as Christ also the church” For example, the way some Zogoe Brabees love kush and other drugs so that when you take them to rehab, they return and start taking it again, is how teachers cherish the education sector although it is messy and chaotic.
Back in the day in Rivercess when we went fishing on the Cestos River or the Atlantic Ocean and our canoe capsized, the first thing was to cling to the condemned canoe which had endangered our lives. Although we clung to the canoe for life, we did not allow the ocean waves to sweep it away because we cherished it as our livelihood means.
Education Sector Emblem of Suffering and Shame
Liberia’s education sector is like the old rugged cross; although over the years it has stood as an “emblem of suffering” for teachers and students,” and “shame” for clueless inept education managers, the nation still clings and cherishes it. In spite of this characterization, the population it serves have always cherished it with unprecedented hope, as Hymnist Bernnard exemplified.
Over President Weah and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s tenure, the sector became an extensive emblem of suffering, shame and laughing stock among West African education managers. When Ex-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared the sector a mess and replaced Dr. Korto’s team with Hon. E. Othello Gongar’s, we still cherished the sector although students and teachers suffered. When the pedagogically limited Hon. Etmonia Tarpeh who took over from Othello Gongar turned over to the maverick and eccentric Hon. George Werner, teachers suffered under the burden of the old, rugged cross bridled by arrogance and peculiarity. Under President George Weah, two accountants who lacked education administration acumen exacerbated the “suffering and shame” of the sector; yet we teachers, students and parents still cherished our old rugged education cross with hope that we would one day exchange it their crowns.
During those tenures, political party partisans and people who did not have degrees in education paid for teaching and district education jobs private schools were compelled to deposit illegal levies into bogus mobile money accounts to acquire accreditation; the ministers took unprecedented number of trips and tours that had zero impact on the sector; the number of unqualified teachers in Liberian schools increased at an astronomical rate and the quality of Liberian education got rotten to the core. Student academic performance is poor because the deputy ministers for instruction appointed by former President Weah and Sirleaf embodied zero intelligence when it came to education operations and innovation. WASSCE results were interpreted by education managers who did not even know how to mitigate education challenges.
Ministers Jarso and Amos’ Commission
You see my Brabbees, it is obvious that the two new ministers appointed by President Joseph Boakai have a commission to carry the old heavy rugged wooden cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified as narrated by the synoptic Gospels; they were commissioned to visit every nook and crania of Liberia and mitigate the challenges and move the old rugged education sector from its present “suffering and shame” situation to a quality sector. However, while Jarso and Amos would be bearing the cross, every Liberia would need to cherish and cling to it, and remain hopeful.
In spite of the present situation, Liberian teachers have no choice but to cling to the old rugged sector because it is their only hope; in spite of the chaotic situation, Liberian students will surrender to the suffering and pain generated by the old rugged education sector; in spite of the task assigned Minister Jarso and Fully, parents will still have surrender the learning of their children to unqualified, inept, and mediocre teachers and administrators.
As a given, Jarso and Amos were commissioned to harmonize the salaries of private school teachers, and the tuition and fees paid by our students. Presently, private schools are charging tuitions and fees by their discretion with no reference to any policy of the Ministry of Education. As gross disrespect to the profession, private schools are paying teachers monthly salaries as low as LR$7,000.00 or (US$36.00) per month; as a consequence, teachers are demotivated and working at more than two schools to complement their wages. Some classrooms have at least 75 students making pedagogical engagement difficult while unqualified teachers flood the sector because some nonsense school proprietors are bent on profit and not quality.
Teachers’ Benediction
To you my fellow teachers and Brabees, as we endure this shame and suffering with our students and parents, let us continue to cherish this old, rugged education sector until our trophies are awarded. As we navigate our pedagogy and andragogy through the tumultuous waves of shame and disgrace, let us continue to cling to our old rugged education sector. As we endure these excruciatingly painful events, let us carry in hindsight that the commission is not only Jarso’s nor Amos,’ but rather for all of us teachers, students, and parents collectively and respectively. We all should continue to cherish the old rugged education cross and cling to it because one day, we will receive our trophies.
To those ends, please let us encourage Ministers Jarso Jallah and Amos by joining me in singing Bernnard’s 20th Century hymn, The Old Rugged Cross” (Note the 4th stanza):
1 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.
2 O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]
3 In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me. [Refrain]
4 To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he’ll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I’ll share. [Refrain]
Simply Thinking Thoughts
About the author:
The Rivercess man, CEO, and founder of the Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP), Mwalimu-koh Dr..Blonkanjay Jackson holds a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Master of Science in Secondary Education (Mathematics) from St. Joseph’s University; he is a Yale University Teachers Initiative Math Fellow, and UPENN Teacher Institute Physics Fellow. Dr. Jackson served the government of Liberia diligently for four years and returned to private practice as Development Specialist and Education Engineer. The Mwalimu-koh can be reached at +231886 681 315 or +6105419114.