By: H. Richard Fallah
MONROVIA: The Head of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS), has alarmed over what he calls drastic drop of students from the MCSS, describing the situation as “appalling.”
Addressing the regular Press briefing at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT0, Mr. Isaac Saye Lakpoh revealed how the current dropout rate stands at ten percent (10%).
He called on parents to not only send their Children to school but also monitor them seriously.
He said there is nothing for the Parents to be afraid of, as the MCSS has done a lot of improvements in making sure that the children are kept under a good leaning atmosphere.
“Our huge challenge which remains very appalling at the MCSS is the dropout rate, which is around ten percent and we need to address that, let us keep the children in school, we have done a lot of improvements and nothing for the parents to be afraid of, even pregnant girls have a support system from us to complete their education”, Mr. Lakpoh noted.
The MCSS boss, nevertheless, boasted that the School System has grown by thirty-one (31%) percent, with previous number of students moving from sixteen thousand (16,000) to about thirty-two thousand (32,000).
He disclosed that every class room has been equipped with furniture and staff with qualified teachers to teach.
“We make sure that all of our high schools are taught by teachers who have degrees and junior high are taught by those with associate degrees while elementary has at least a “C” ` certificate and we are also taking action to a stage, when all of our teachers will have at least college degrees in other to sit in the classroom,” he disclosed.
Though the MCSS boss complained on the dropout rate of students attending public schools, he, at the same time, praised the level of huge interest from students to enroll in government schools.
Sadly, he narrated that new student wanting to enroll in MCSS schools, are most often denied permission due to the over crowdedness of classrooms across the various government schools.
“When I took over and noticed it, I developed a plan to address the issue, for example: We had a class room at the D-Tweh with about 110 students as well as the William VS. Tubman school”, he revealed.
He said, many new students wanted to enroll in the MCSS, but were denied because MCSS did not have the classroom space, something which, he said, has led to immediately pushing the Boatswain Junior High-School on Bushrod Island to a full-flesh high school; a portion of it, which was dedicated by President George Manneh Weah on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Mr. Lakpoh expressed the hope of receiving US$240,000 from government if the project should be completed, thanking the government for its initial support.
Continuing his explanation, Lakpoh noted how MCSS, as the premium school district, has also be able to extend its hands, by taking steps to build a relationship with the “More Than Me Academy” an institution that provides instruction for girls from the impoverished area of West Point Township.
He praised the “More Than Me Academy” for being very cooperative in the process of working together.
He made a particular reference to sending girls who graduate from the junior high level at the school (More Than Me), to receive scholarship to any senior high school across Liberia.
Going further, he said, the responsibility became very costly and the “More Than Me Academy” could not sustain the cost, so this year, working with us at the MCSS, they (MCSS) provided teachers and elevated the school (More than Me) to Senior High level. He said, today, girls graduating from the junior high level will not have to look for high school and “More Than Me” will not have to find additional finances to support them for the scholarship.
Concluding, the MCSS boss mentioned how the Monrovia Consolidated School System “is on the light and there are tremendous transformation taking place there.”
“We are doing lots of renovations to include roofing, inserting new floors, among other things,” he said.
He also promised a five-year development plan, which he said, is being worked out and expected to be unveil to the publicly shortly.
The plan, according to him, will basically focus on few things: Namely- additional US$2 million every year for five years. This amount, he said, will enable MCSS to host about fifty thousand 50, 000 students in school and maintain qualified teachers in the class room, along with modern classroom facilities.
Lakpoh noted that they are also modernizing the MCSS, by engaging in conversation to bring in computer science in all of the high schools across Liberia. He thanked President George Weah and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for the “huge task” ahead.
