WUNRN
LIBERIA - CHALLENGES FOR KEEPING
GIRLS IN SCHOOL
Patience was also expelled from school along with Patricia Kollie, because they had both fallen pregnant. Credit: Winston Daryoue/IPS
Kollie’s house is a few minutes walk from the St. Mark Lutheran
High School in the city of
The end of the war should have provided her with an opportunity
to start her studies again. But last month she was expelled for being pregnant.
“We were five who were pregnant. They called us in the office.
They said ‘You are pregnant. Since you feel you’re big, go home. I can’t keep
you in my school,’” Kollie explained.
Kollie said she begged Peter Jutee, the principal, to let her
stay at the private school but he refused claiming getting pregnant and then
remaining enrolled is a violation of the school’s handbook. Private schools
draw up their handbook and the education arm of the Lutheran church in
“We took the decision in line with our own handbook,” said
Jutee. “Article 10.2d states that we can’t keep pregnant women in school. When
they give birth, we readmit them.”
Kollie and the other four girls appealed to the administration
to complete the school year, but the appeal was rejected.
The Liberia Education law is silent on what should happen to
girls who get pregnant while enrolled.
Pregnancy and subsequently dropping out of school is just one of
many problems limiting access to education for girls in
Girls in the rural areas have even more obstacles in their
paths. Traditional practices along with a lack of schools and financial support
are some of the challenges they must overcome.
In April, more than a hundred schoolgirls in Mah District of
Nimba County in northern
The situation in Mah District resulted in the complete closure
of the entire school and the county education officer withdrew the teachers for
reassignment elsewhere.
The challenges in educating the girl child are indisputable, but
equally, their ability to contribute to
At the launch of the Girl’s Education National Policy in April
2006,
A Free and Compulsory Primary Education Policy was instituted by
Sirleaf’s government as a means of achieving progress towards the Millennium
Development Goal two, which calls for universal primary education for all
children by 2015.
The policy is achieving its primary objective, which is
increased enrolment. For the past three years school enrolment, especially at
the primary level, has increased by 50 percent.
However, a challenging and troubling indication is the question
of quality delivery; this includes adequate physical space for learning to
accommodate the growing number of enrolled students and adequately trained
instructors who are available to teach on a regular basis.
Sirleaf’s clear vision about education is still a long way from
being achieved. Poverty, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy and rape are taking
their toll on the lives of Liberian young women.
British Charity Save the Children reports that one
in three Liberian girls will give birth before their 20th birthday – one of the
highest rates of teen motherhood in the world.
A February 2012 report by the group Defence
for Children International indicates that rape is the most
frequently reported crime in
Kollie’s situation exemplifies the challenges faced by girls
seeking an education. She said she got pregnant because she needed the man’s
financial support.
“The man who impregnated me was only helping me,” she said. Now
in an ironic turn of events, because she is carrying his baby, Kollie can no
longer benefit from the school fees the father of her child gave her. Private
school tuition fees cost about 7,000 Liberian dollars or 92 dollars; the
monthly salary of a Liberian Civil servant.
Rape and sex for grades are not uncommon here. A study by Save
the Children found that as many as four out of five schoolgirls in war-scarred
Another 2011 survey by Action Aid Liberia entitled “Women and the City” found that
transactional sex or “sex for grades” is a major problem across three top universities
in
As Kollie continued to pound the cassava leaves under the breezy
shades of mango trees in her yard, she says she would never compromise herself
sexually just to guarantee she remained in school.
“Me, I don’t have any one to go and beg for me or tell the
authorities here’s something for you,” she said. She recalled how nine female
students became pregnant last year but some of them were not expelled.
“I don’t know what they pass through to remain in school last
year,” she said, looking distressed.
When asked about this, Jutee insisted that the students were
only pardoned because they were graduating seniors.
Founder of the Liberia Women Media Action Committee,
Tovian Estella Nelson, said that Kollie’s expulsion underlined the complexities
of keeping Libera’s girls in school. The committee established
“Poverty in
Nelson said that programmes intended to increase girl’s
enrollment failed to adequately address issues surrounding retention and
empowerment.
“While there is a law on girl’s education, there is no proper
mechanism for effective implementation and monitoring. Also, the national
budget does not respond directly to the learning needs of Liberian students
from a gender-based approach, leaving girl’s education policy issues on the
margin.
“Sadly many girls, like Patricia, will continue to engage in
premature and unsafe sex just to survive and remain in school, until policy
makers recognise and take appropriate actions to address the interaction
between poverty and girl’s education.”
Meanwhile Kollie and the four other expelled grade 12 students
had already paid their fees for the entire year. When they are readmitted after
they have their babies, they will have to begin the year again and also, more
critically, find money to pay the school fees once more.
“I had already paid my school fees and the junior and senior
prom fees,” she said.
Kollie expressed disappointment that school officials took a
long time to expel them. According to her, the administration was aware she and
other girls were already pregnant, yet allowed them to clear all their
financial obligations and then expelled them, just weeks before the end of the
academic year on Jun. 30.
Jutee claimed he was simply following the rules of the school’s
handbook, and insisted the girls were not being punished for getting pregnant.
But regardless next year the girls will have to source new
funding to cover the same fees they already paid this year.