Members of the Press and Fellow Liberians   We would like to warmly welcome you to this unique press conference that seeks to highlight some barriers that are hindering the quality of education and call for straight adherence to the implementation of the Education Reform Act of 2011 specifically the issue that has to do with the licensing of public teachers in Liberia.  Since the passage of the Education Reform Act of 2011, the desired and expected mandates have not been achieved.

IDAD reviewed of the 2011 education reform Law established that public school teachers in the country do not have licenses that qualified them to teach our emerging future leaders.
Fellow Liberians and Members of the media -the licensing of public school teachers will not only checkmate their performances but will further create an enabling environment that encourages credibility, transparency and accountability in the educational sector of our country.

Members of the Press and Fellow Liberians – similar measures taken in the legal and health professions should be instituted in the teaching profession. Lawyers and nurses received licenses before being admitted into practice and in the case of any ethical transgressions these licenses are withheld.

Fellow Liberians and Members of the Press – this process will carefully examine teachers and weed out the unethical ones.
Members of the Fourth Estate and Fellow Liberians – Sections 6.3.6 and 6.7 of the Education Reform Act of 2011 call for the licensing of teachers and that there should be a Teachers’ Registry and Annual Appraisal to assess teachers’ performances in the country.

The law provides that Public School Teachers and Administrators should be given loans and that there should be a National Student Loan exclusively for students in Liberia. These provisions have not been fully implemented by the Ministry of education, thereby causing serious setback in the education sector.
Fellow Liberians and Members of the Press – These unlicensed teachers have flooded various schools in our country and are providing knowledge to our emerging future leaders.

Members of the press, Public School Teachers and Administrators are yet to be given loans as enshrined in section 8.13 of the 2011 Education Reform Act.  There are no guidelines and regulations for establishing a National Student Loan Program as provided in section 9.1(d) of the Education Reform Act.
Moreover, per section 9.1(g), the guidelines on tuition and fees charged by private and faith-based institutions are yet to be developed and published to relieve parents and guardians of the burden of skyrocketing tuition and unbearable fees.

IDAD, therefore, call on the government of Liberia and relevant stakeholders to urgently institute the requisite measures to mitigate these challenges and gaps in our educational sector to create a conducive environment for the growth of education in our country.