Too many graduates unprepared

Roughly over three years after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf saw the Education Ministry here as a big mess in 2013, she is still complaining today that far too many students are completing Grade ninth (9th) or Grade twelfth (12th) here without mastering the required skills.

Speaking at Liberia’s National Flag Day celebration on 24 August at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Wednesday, she said the results of the national examinations recently received, demonstrated that far too many students are completing Grade 9 or Grade 12 without mastering the required skills.

Before complaining about students’ output on national exams, Mrs. Sirleaf had just challenged her compatriots during the Flag Day celebration to appreciate successes as well as many challenges “we” face as a nation.

She had suggested that amid the many problems, “We still see Liberian students and teachers doing great things,” even though the President later used the results of the national examinations to draw a conclusion that far too many students are completing Grade 9th or 12th without mastering the required skills.

An Executive Mansion release quotes President Sirleaf as saying “Yet, 35 schools achieved a 100% pass rate for their Grade 12 entrants.” She however said these students and teachers exemplify the self-discipline that is necessary for national transformation and deserve congratulations.

She says Liberian will be transformed not through sweeping gestures at high levels but as “we” persevere to strengthen the schools here, to improve skills and to bring up the children to be the best that they can be.

President Sirleaf reminded Liberians to be patriotic and to love their country, suggesting that “Patriotism also requires a measure of honesty; and urged patriots to honestly evaluate the state of their nation.

She said the national flag must remind Liberians of their belonging to one nation – indivisible, with liberty and justice to all. She noted that the flag signifies “a symbol that calls us to unity, in which we find strength, a bridge to peace where we stand ready to build a strong [and] prosperous society and in tolerance where we disabuse our minds of division and pettiness.”

In his oration, Rev. Emmanuel Bowier told the gathering that to be loyal, one must be loyal to the family, the community, district and county, before becoming loyal to the country. The winners of this year’s Cadet Drill Corp competition were J.J. Robert High School, Gray D. Allison, and Patemelia Academy School System respectively – all of whom received trophies. St. Teresa’s Convent was rated the best dressed school while Cathedral High School, most disciplined.-Press release