NTAL & EI urge government to invest 20% Budget in public education

By Lewis S. Teh

The National Teachers Association of Liberia (NTAL) and delegates of the Education International (El) have urged the Government of Liberia to invest 20% of the National Budget into education for the growth of the country.

The two institutions made the call after relaunching a “Go Public! Fund Education” campaign here in Liberia.

“We like to send this as a crucial call to national government to invest 20% of our national budget into education; we believe this will strengthen the education sector of Liberia.”

At the close of a two-day stakeholders’ dialogue held with executives of the NTAL and EI delegation, Madam Mary W. Mulbah-Nyumah, NTAL national president, appealed for 20% of the national budget toward the education sector.

According to her, informing the Government of Liberia to apportion 20% of the National Budget to education is an honest appeal in ensuring that the education sector of the country is transformed. 

The NTAL national president emphasized that the campaign is not intended to go against the government in any way.

Instead, she explained that it buttresses the government’s effort in providing quality public education throughout the length and breadth of Liberia. 

“When you advocate, people misinterpret you, saying that you’re going against the government. So, let this be clear that we are not against the government; we’re just playing our role,” said Madam Mulbah-Nyumah.

“We all made the government but sometimes those who are fortunate to occupy national positions misinform our engagements whenever we are carrying on our mandate of advocacy,” she said.

In furtherance, the Secretary General of NTAL, Mr. Dominic D. M. Suah, Sr., said the idea of privatization has been translated into educational practices in many ways.

According to him, privatization takes different trends and poses serious threats in the strive for academic excellence, especially in Liberia.

Mr. Suah explained that the NTAL and EI invited stakeholders to review the state of education in Liberia and evaluate progress made in relation to the provision of public education as provided in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“We are to inform [the] government to take ownership of public education by investing at least 20% of the National Budget and 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into education,” Suah said.

He further mentioned that the campaign is a global response against privatization and commercialization of education. 

Mr. Suah said its main objective is to strengthen public education, which enhances the growth of a country.

The NTAL new Secretary General said it has been noticed that manute portion of the budget has been given to education. 

He averred that the campaign launched is meant to detest the government’s decision of contributing that little amount to education.

“If our public schools must be up to standard for the growth of our kids, there should be adequate investment into the public schools,” he said.

For his part, EI Regional Director for Africa Dr. Dennis Sinyolo said the EI is a conglomeration of teachers with a membership of 35 million across the world and NTAL is a member organization.

“We are in Liberia because we care deeply about the quality of public education in Africa and the world at large; therefore, NTAL has been involved in a campaign for many years, which makes us to be in solidarity with the NTAL for national efforts, thus, improving public education here in Liberia.”

“We are also here to launch a campaign against the privatization and commercialization of public education so that every child through public education can have access to quality education,” said Sinyolo.

He said one of the key reasons El embarked on this journey is due to education being a fundamental human right that should be available to everyone and not few.

He added that the Liberian government is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings.