1.0	INTRODUCTION

Background and Problem Definition

Access to education is a fundamental right for all children and an important driver for any country’s development. Education is a powerful equalizer that is central to development, as it opens doors for people to radically transform their lives and remove themselves out of crushing poverty. It is critical to a country’s success with poverty reduction strategies and policies that people are empowered and strengthened through the acquisition of quality and sound education that leads to national productivity and a stronger socio-political cohesion. There is a strong correlation between the advancement and application of science and technology and economic growth (Bernard’s, et.al, 2006). However, quality education needs total commitment of all stakeholders, materials and infrastructures and a motivated qualified staff.

In Liberia, the need for educational reform that meets the demands of the 21st century workplace, particularly in science and technology, cannot be over emphasized. Its schools must produce graduates who can generate knowledge, think creatively and solve the kinds of complex social and economic problems they will face in society. In this era of global communication and collaboration, the Liberian educational system must be structured to produce graduates who can work together to address the needs of an increasingly complex, technological-driven economy. The educational system can no longer afford to produce graduates with no employable skills. Rather, Liberia must engage in the kinds of reforms that will develop students’ lifelong learning, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative working skills - those of tomorrow’s ‘knowledge workers’.

In Liberia, the entire educational system had been shattered by conflict during the Liberian civil crisis. This crisis ushered the education system into a period of regression, during which this fifteen-year civil unrest took its toll on the educational system of Liberia. Nearly all institutions that provided education were either destroyed or looted. School children became combatants, teachers and lecturers unwilling to be involved in the mayhem fled to other parts of the country or left Liberia. Warlords divided and misruled the country, education came to a standstill, and the consequence has been that there is significant gap in data on education in Liberia.

Yet, educational reform is an issue of concern to the Liberian government, and has been on the top of the government’s agenda since the beginning of the end of the civil wars in 2005. The government understands that this educational reform will undoubtedly go a long way in assisting Liberia pull herself from the ruins of her civil wars. The Government of Liberia understands that it arguably true that no nation, no matter how great, can achieve sustainable growth, development, and stability without an educated population. It has been seen that that most educated nations see more stability, politically as well as economically, than their less educated counter parts. In view of these arguments, the Liberian government has seen it prudent to enhance national growth and stability through the promotion of excellence in education. This can greatly be achieved in the domain of science, mathematics and technologic education. However, this educational domain (science, mathematics, and technology) seems to be plagued with a number of problems.

The problem of science, mathematics and technological education is twofold. On the one hand, there is the capacity of the system, human and material, to produce knowledgeable and capable graduates, upon which the development of a technologically competent labor force depends. On the other hand, employing such a labor force requires innovations in medicine, telecommunications and information systems, agriculture, engineering, technical services and manufacturing to fuel job creation and national development. Policies, systems and practices in both of these areas must be in place in order to meet the challenges of attaining and maintaining social and economic progress in Liberia. In other words, there must be a coordinated effort between the education and employment sectors to ensure that the education system is producing not only qualified graduates, but those whose knowledge and skills are both in demand and which will meet the development needs of the country.

Unfortunately, issues of student performance, quality of teaching at the senior high school(SHS) level in particular, and students’ lack of readiness for jobs in science and technology(after graduation from universities and from vocational schools)are widespread in Liberia. Data gathered during the study shows an insufficiency of human and material resources throughout the entire country. The needs appear to be more dire in some counties than others, however, only marginally so. The issues highlighted in the present report are seriously hampering efforts to expand and improve upon the quality of education and, subsequently, the pace of progress towards the realization of national social and economic development goals.

To address the problem, the MOE launched the first postwar National School Census (NSC) in 2005. Data from this census was used in preparation of the Liberia Primary Education Recovery Program document and others. The 2007/2008 National School Census conducted in January 2008 is the second in the series. The data collected and the structure being established are to be integral parts of an Education Management Information System (EMIS) that is to be used to inform the nation and the world about education in Liberia.

Despite the efforts exerted, the increasing amounts of resources devoted to the process of educational reform, and despite the progress achieved, still a lot needs to be done. Over the past fifteen years, reform efforts have been met by numerous challenges and obstacles, foremost among which are the increasing rate of population growth, the resulting demand for greater quantities of educational services and educational opportunities, the heavy burden of accumulated problems inherited from previous generations, and the low rate of return to education. As a result, up to the present day, the outputs of the educational process are not yet satisfactory as reflected in the performance of students, especially the Senior High School science students in their end of training examinations.

This assertion is supported by the Liberian Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan (PRS, 2008), which indicated that the education sector currently faces several key challenges, including the following:

inadequate and undefined sources of finance that will enable the sector to keep pace with the ever- increasing demand for quality and relevant education;

weak capacity for management and governance from central to the local level;

an outdated curriculum and inadequate textbooks, chairs, desks, and school supplies;

insufficient school access that limits the ability of every child, including girls and persons with disabilities, to exercise his/her right to quality education;

insufficient numbers of well trained, qualified, and motivated teachers;

an understaffed and over-crowded public university; and

poor quality programs being offered at some institutions of higher learning

The PRS stated the following as the seven strategic objectives of the Government of Liberia in education for a 3-year lifetime of the document:

Strengthen the curriculum;

Improve access to quality, safe, and hygienic schools;

Improve learning achievement and school completion rates;

Strengthen the quality and accessibility of skills and vocational training;

Improve the quality and standard of tertiary education while carrying out a limited and phased expansion and decentralization; and

Strengthen the overall governance, management, and financial basis of the system.

Consequently, in the recent past, Liberia has witnessed a new surge of intensive reform discourse. These seven strategic objectives of the PRS are all covered by the objectives of the Education Sector Plan (ESP). ESP ends by 2020, and its intention is to ensure an alignment between future PRS objectives for education and ESP objectives and targets. There is a strong need to sit back and assess progress achieved so far, and find out how to go forward. As the country surges for a better Liberia, it remains a glaring fact that the highly significant contributions of young people can never be negated from the quest. For this reason, it is imperative that the young people continue the process of self-development, training their mental prowess and ensuring that a high respect for academic excellence is maintained and remained a cultural value for them all.

In order to meet up with the strategic educational objectives of the PRS, especially counts I, iii and v, support the implementation of the ESP and hence, the Republic of Liberia Vision 2030 for better livelihood, quality of life and the wellbeing of the nation and its people, and to contribute to knowledge that will help government create an educational environment that will create a new generation of young people, with highly-developed problem-solving skills. The needs assessment of the current state of the art of technical knowledge and analytical skills acquired through science education in senior high schools, which form the transition between secondary and university education, is necessary. Technical knowledge and analytical skills are especially important in this regard, in order to meet the needs of our society, now and in the future. This is acquired through laboratory practical and desktop reviews in libraries. This new generation must be well-prepared by teachers who are equally well-trained in mathematics and the sciences, and adequately equipped with the appropriate curriculum and pedagogical skills. Several needs assessment surveys had been undertaken in the past but these were specifically to determine the participation of women in adult learning and education, training needs and identification of types of life skills provision.

Project Objectives

The main goal of this study was to investigate the status of science, mathematics and technology education in senior secondary schools in the Republic of Liberia. To achieve this goal the following specific objectives were formulated to guide the study:

Access the quality and gender disparity of science and Mathematics teachers in the senior secondary schools in the country;

Carry out an inventory on the laboratory and library in Liberian Senior High schools across the country, which are key determining factors of students technical knowledge, analytical skills and performance;

Through document analysis, identify some of the policy issues demotivating the integration of science and technology education within existing education policy and strategy frameworks;

Access the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Liberian senior secondary schools;

Identify priorities of reform in science education and development strategies, and other interventions that will link mathematics, science, and technology education to job creation and appropriate career skills; and

Propose some policy recommendations.

The present needs assessment study serves as a contribution to the reform of science and technology education in Liberia. One of its primary purposes is to determine the specific gaps or weaknesses in services, infrastructure and opportunities in the educational system. The findings will provide a blue print in the redesign and implementation of the proposed Government of Liberia science and technology education initiative. Furthermore, it is a contribution towards attainment of the Liberian mission and vision for education:

Mission statement: to provide all Liberians with the opportunity to access and complete affordable education of a quality, relevance and appropriateness that meets their needs and that of the nation,

Vision statement: to provide a system of education that is flexible, evolves with time and fully meets the needs and aspirations of the people individually and collectively as a nation.

It is also in line with the Liberian National Philosophy of Education in which emphasis is placed on “equity of quality education for all irrespective of geographical local”. A flexible educational system means providing a quality of education that better addresses the needs of ever-expanding technologies in information systems, communications, medicine and engineering. It should also give rise to research and innovations that can provide early warning signals for changes in curriculum and pedagogy.

Terms of Reference

Within the framework of the development of quality education in Liberian senior high schools, the Liberian Science Foundation (LSF) assigned a multidisciplinary team of her key staff to conduct a Comprehensive Needs Assessment, and determine the strengths and needs in order to address the curriculum, instructions, and organizational categories. The terms of reference were:

Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of science and Mathematics in senior high school in Liberia as well as to determine the strengths of the curriculum, instructions, and organizational categories;

Develop a methodology of work and collect necessary data;

Analyze the data for informed decisions; and

Prepare a report.

Scope of Work

The comprehensive needs assessment was carried out by a multidisciplinary team which utilized skills in science, socioeconomics and project management. Needs assessment requires an in-depth analysis because of the potential significance of the educational sector to the sustainable development of a nation. The project requires:

An assessment of the current learning conditions in the senior high schools that influences students performance in science and technology with respect to textbooks availability, laboratories, teachers working conditions and qualifications, etc, necessary for the attainment of the national educational policies;

comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts; and

Works to be carried out to formulate practical mitigation measures.

Approach to the Study

The project’s working definition of Needs assessment is, “the systematic process to acquire an accurate, thorough picture of the strengths and weaknesses of a school community that can be used in response to the academic needs of all students for improving student achievement and meeting challenging academic standards - a process that collects and examines information about school-wide issues and then utilizes that data to determine priority goals, develop a plan, and to allocate funds and resources.”

The flow chart below shows the six step approach adopted in the conduct of the survey (Fig 1):

Figure 1: Conceptual steps for Liberia needs assessment of science facilities in senior high schools

1. Clarification of the purpose of the needs assessment, including but not limited to:

Reason for the need assessment;

The variables being measured;

Stakeholders; and

Expertise required.

2. Identification of the population (here, Students, teachers, administrators, other school staff, volunteers, service providers);

3. Determination of needs assessment methodology;

4. Design of survey instrument. Includes questionnaire, interview guides, Field observations, and focus group discussions;

5. Data Collection. Include the development of management system for collecting and organizing data, determination of baseline data, plans to follow-up with those not responding to the collection tools, organization of the data by key categories; and

6. Analyze Data and write Report. Includes all the process of coding and keying in the data into appropriate statistical software.

This process was undertaken in two phases:

Phase 1 included steps 1 to 5; and

Phase 2 included step 6

All components of this needs assessment required that the following tasks be performed:

Review of Literature;

Site Visits;

Data Collection and Sample Analyses; and

Review of results, conclusion and recommendations.

Structure of the Report

The report is structured into five chapters (Table 1).

Table 1: Report Structure

Chapter	Content
Chapter 1	Introduction	Introduction to project and approach to needs assessment
Chapter 2	Description of the Project	Location, economic, demographic and educational profile
Chapter 3	Methodology of study	Description of the method used for the assessment
Chapter 4	Results and Discussion	Factors influencing educational performance in the country
Chapter 5	Conclusion and Recommendations	Conclusions and recommendations of the needs assessment

2.0	DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

2.1.	Location

Liberia (38,350 square miles/111,370 Km2) is situated in West Africa and lies between latitudes 4° and 9°N, and longitudes 7° and 12°W. It is bounded by Sierra Leone to the north west, Guinea to the North, Côte d’Ivoire East, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the country's southwest (Fig 2)

Figure 2: Location of the Republic of Liberia

Administratively, Liberia is divided into 3 regions (North-Central, South-East and South-West) which make up the 15 counties. The capital city, Monrovia, is in the South-Western region in Montserrado County (Fig 2). The three largest of Liberia’s fifteen (15) counties (Montserrado, Nimba and Bong) account for over sixty percent (60%) of the total population, while Montserrado alone having about thirty percent (30%).

The landscape is characterized by mostly flat to rolling coastal plains that contain mangroves and swamps, which rise to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast.[39] Tropical rainforests cover the hills, while elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests make up the dominant vegetation in the northern sections.[39] The equatorial climate is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August.[39] During the dry season months of November to March, dry dust-laden harmattan winds blow inland, causing many problems for residents.[39]

2.2.	Demographic Characteristics

As of the 2008 national census, Liberia was home to 3,476,608 people (LISGIS, 2008). Of those, 1,118,241 lived in Montserrado County, the most populous county in the country and home to the capital of Monrovia, with the Greater Monrovia district home to 970,824 people (LISGIS, 2008). Nimba County is the next most populous county with 462,026 residents (LISGIS, 2008). As revealed in the 2008 census, Monrovia is more than four times more populous than all the county headquarters combined. Liberia is made up of 18 indigenous ethnic groups and the descendants of Americo-Liberians who founded modern Liberia in the 1820s under the auspices of the American Colonization Society (ACS). Approximately 40% of the population is Christian, another 40% practices traditional African religions and the remaining 20% is Muslim (National Human Development Report: Liberia, 2006, p.20).

In terms of age distribution, the age group of 0 – 18 years account for 54.3% (of which ½ are female). This structure makes Liberia to fall within the “youthful age” category. The under 5 year old accounts for 14.6% of the population, while the primary school age population (6-12) is currently placed at 22.2% of the total.

2.3.	Education

This section is intended to provide an introduction to the major legislation and policies that created the foundation of the educational system. This section will provide an overview while the details of the legislation and policies as they refer to various levels of schooling and elements of the educational system are dealt with as appropriate in the following chapters.

2.3.1.	Legislation and Policies on Education

The primary legislation regulating and facilitating the educational and training sector of Liberia are the followings:

1986 Constitution;

Education Act of 2002; and

Act establishing the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) in 1989.

A Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) Decree No. 56 on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is in existence but there are arguments over its legitimacy and the body that it established to govern TVET has been non-functional for a number of years.

1986 Constitution

The only two references in the Constitution regarding the right of citizens to education are found in Articles 6 and 15 (b). Article 6 states:

“The Republic shall, because of the vital role assigned to the individual citizen under this Constitution for social, economic and political well being of Liberia, provide equal access to educational opportunities and facilities for all citizens to the extent of available resources. Emphasis shall be placed on the mass education of the Liberian people and the elimination of illiteracy.”

2.3.2. The Liberian Educational System

In this subsection, the different stages of education are mentioned. Details on these stages for the 2010/2011 academic (Gender parity index, Gross/Net enrolment rate, Gross/Net completion rate, age distribution, etc, per level and per sector) are already published (Ministry of Education, 2011).

Pre-primary education officially starts at age 2 years and lasts for four years. Pre-primary schooling is followed by six years of primary education (Grades 1 to 6).

Primary education is available in public, mission-sponsored, concession-sponsored (i.e. by large companies), private-sector, and community-funded self-help schools.

Secondary education is provided in two parts: The first part consists of three years of junior high schooling and is the last part of ‘basic education and the second part consist of three years of senior high schooling.

Senior High School (SHS) Survival Rate had been projected to increase from 82% in 2010 to 83% in 2012, 86% in 2015 and 90% in 2020. A Proxy Completion Rate is projected to move from 26.5% in 2010 to 32% in 2012, 42% in 2015 and 49% in 2020. Senior High School average number of hours of instruction per week is projected to increase from 25 hours in 2010 to 26 hours in 2012, 27 hours in 2015 and 30 hours in 2020.

While the completion rate for boys is low that for girls is even lower and adds to earlier concerns about future availability of women to occupy senior positions in the nation. The low completion rate indicates how difficult it is for a student to reach the final grade of SHS. Among the difficulties are those that result in repetition, dropping-out and, ultimately, wastage. Estimates based on 2007/08 data suggest that approximately 6% and 13% of public resources are spent on individuals who repeat and drop-out of senior high school respectively.

Tertiary level institutions include: Community/Junior Colleges which offer baccalaureate and associate degrees; teacher training colleges; universities; and vocational and technical institutions including the Forestry Institute.

Vocational and technical education and training are available at different levels starting with the most basic of skills training in centers at the primary level. The long years of conflict make non-formal education, including literacy programs, a very important part of the education system as many young people missed out on formal education opportunities. These programs are largely at the primary level. At the school level there are four main categories of schools – public, community, private, and mission.

Public schools are institutions started, operated and fully financed by the Government, Community schools are institutions started and run by a community for a brief period after which the Government takes over; most retain the name ‘community’ even after being taken over.

Mission schools are institutions started and run by bodies with religious affiliations. They are not dependent on government funding for their survival although some receive subsidies.

Finally, Private schools are institutions started and run by individuals and/or groups with no declared religious affiliation or intention of perpetuating a particular religious belief or way of life. They do not receive financial support from the Government.

In this project, however, some community schools and non full boarding mission schools are classified as private.

Some schools belong to a ‘school system’. A school system is simply a collection of schools grouped together by their geographical location or the fact that they cater to a specific group of children e.g. children of parents working for a particular mining company/concession. All are established by specific legislations. Most school systems are private. The only public and most well-known school system is the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS).

In 2010, the literacy rate of Liberia was estimated at 60.8% (64.8% for males and 56.8% for females).(Moore and Jina, 2009). In some areas primary and secondary education is free and compulsory from the ages of 6 to16, though enforcement of attendance is lax (UNESCO, 2010). In other areas children are required to pay a tuition fee to attend school. On average, children attain 10 years of education (11 for boys and 8 for girls) (UN, 2007). The country's education sector is hampered by inadequate schools and supplies, as well as a lack of qualified teachers (CIA - The World Factbook, 2009).

Higher education is provided by a number of public and private universities. The University of Liberia is the country's largest and oldest university. Located in Monrovia, the university opened in 1862 and today has six colleges, including a medical school and the nation's only law school, Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law.

In an effort to provide quality education in the area of academic and vocational/technical education as pre-requisite for Technology development and transfer in Liberia, the Government of Liberia took an irreversible step forward to construct through loan agreement with World Bank and EEC, six Science and Technology Centers (STCs) in the capital cities of six counties in Rural Liberia with facilities for academic and vocational education and home economic education for Junior High Schools. The staff consisted of five Liberian professionals in each center to teach Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Math and Language Arts on an integrated basis and three experts in Science, Math and Language Arts. Along with the Director of

Science and Technology Education and a Science Specialist at the Ministry of Education monitored the operation of the STC, through workshops, seminars and visitations. At the Ministry of Education central office a computer was installed to establish a data base and a national survey was conducted on schools, students, personnel, facilities, and Finance Data. It was easier than to retrieve information for immediate use with speed and accuracy which serves as an implication for Manpower Development through efficient management information system, administrative policy alternatives, and decision for possible action implementation.

In 2005 the Ministry of Education (MOE), with support from education development partners, made tremendous efforts in addressing the numerous data problems in the education sector. As a result, government through the MOE has launched a number of National School Censuses:

the first was the 2005/2006 National Report (unfortunately, was never published for a number of reasons);

the second, in 2008 (the 2007/2008 National School Census);

the third, in 2009 (the 2008/2009 National School Census); and

the fourth, in 2012 (2010/2012 National School Census).

Together with the Education Management Information System (EMIS), the MOE have learned from the experiences of the three censuses to ensure better coverage, better data collection and better data processing, analysis and management for this last census. Furthermore, data from these censuses have been very instrumental for educational planning and development in the country including: the Liberia Primary Education Recovery Program document, the country status report and the 10-year Education sector plan (2010-2020) - “A Commitment to Making a Difference”, among others.

2.4.	Need for project

The need for educational reforms to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace, particularly in science and technology, cannot be over emphasized. Technologies allow human society to fight disease, to raise crop production, to mobilize new sources of energy, to disseminate information, to transport people and goods with greater speed and safety, to limit family size, and much more (Millennium Project, 2005, p.92).

Science and technology are keys to socio-economic development in an increasingly interconnected world. It is therefore imperative that developing countries like Liberia embrace science and technology as a vital tool for accelerating the country’s socio-economic development. Science and technology education are thus important to national development in the Republic of Liberia, in two main respects:

First, the use and application of knowledge, skills, modern tools and materials of science and technology add value to human life everywhere in the world. Examples of this aspect of education can be found in advances in medical, environmental and engineering sciences.

Developed as well as developing nations, such as Taiwan and Korea, became industrialized countries by exploiting advances in, for example, silicon microelectronics achieved during the early 1960s. Each of these countries has invested quite heavily in people and factories, and their successes have been based on carefully designed plans and strategies. This investment is achieved by developing knowledge and skills: the human capacity required to advance in a globally competitive world.

Second, science and technology education in the country are important to national development in ways that are more specific to Liberia. That is, science and technology education must serve both the needs brought on by the global advancement of technology and market competition, but also social, environmental and economic needs that are specifically important to the country as well. Although the drive to be globally competitive is critical to the nation’s economic growth, the educational system must likewise prepare the Republic of Liberia to meet social development needs in health, education and other sectors.

3.0	RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1.	Population

Administrators/Managers, science and mathematics teachers and Students in Senior High Schools (SHSs) in all fifteen (15) counties that make up the Republic of Liberia constituted the target population for the study. Administrators/Managers of Education were taken to include Heads of Schools (principals, vice principals, and others) who roles are directly related to the administration of a school environment.

3.2.	Sample and Sampling Procedure

The geographical, economic, physical, human, and cultural conditions of the 15 counties that make up the Republic of Liberia are quite diverse. Yet these regions share at least three common features significant to the present reform initiative:

they are generally scientifically and technologically underdeveloped;

the school senior high schools still maintain the traditional system of curriculum and instruction; and

Unemployment rates among senior high leavers, like among university graduates is very high, even if the situation differ significantly among counties.

In view of these similarities, and in order to properly manage the study, the conditions of education in selected regions of the 15 counties were studied.

Some 291 Senior High schools (Grade 10-12) in all 15 counties that make up the Republic of Liberia were selected and surveyed from September 29, 2012 to October 30th, 2012. Stratified random sampling was employed and the stratification was done according to:

County level;

Location (Rural/Urban); and

School sector within the county (Mission/Private/Public).

The target population was made up of Students (4403), Teachers (686), and School Administrators (291), (Table 2)

Table 2: Distribution of the Sampled Senior High Schools per location (Grade 10 – 12)

No.	County	Raw Data	Sample size drawn
Urban	Rural	Urban	Rural
1	Bomi	2	3	2	3
2	Bong	8	7	5	5
3	Gbarpolu	2	0	2	0
4	Grand Bassa	2	9	5	4
5	Grand Cape Mount	6	3	3	6
6	Grand Gedeh	9	4	5	0
7	Grand Kru	2	0	0	3
8	Lofa	11	7	5	10
9	Margibi	10	11	9	13
10	Maryland	5	8	4	6
11	Montserrado	31	114	89	60
12	Nimba	19	18	3	27
13	River Gee	1	0	1	1
14	River Cess	2	0	0	1
15	Sinoe	2	3	5	0
Total	113	185	142	149

The number of students chosen per school was function of:

The population of the school; and

The time.

At least three students from each stream (Grade 10 – 12) were randomly selected for questionnaire administration and focus group discussions. Based on the number of schools per county per sector, different sample sizes were chosen in different counties, and in the different sectors (Table 3, Annex IV)

Table 3: Sample size selection for students

Class	Total
Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
Sector	Public	608	539	475	1622
Private	374	421	469	1264
Mission	432	501	584	1517
Total	1414	1461	1528	4403

Key variables under investigation ranged from availability of lab manuals, lab attendance, teacher-student ratio, Demonstrators, and Science Text Books (Annex I-III).

In statistical sampling, however, there is no set percentage that is accurate for any population. What matters is the actual number or size of the sample, not the percentage of the population.

3.2.1.	Estimation of sample size

The equation below was used to calculate the sample size used in the survey.

Where:

n = sample size required,

N = number of people in the population,

P = estimated variance in population, as a decimal,

A = precision desired, expressed as a decimal,

Z = based on confidence level, and

R = estimated response rate, as a decimal

In this survey, N was taken to be 82049 students, 4695 teachers, and 495 Senior High schools (Ministry of Education, 2011). The survey used a sampling error/precision level (difference between the sample and the real population) of ±3%, giving a margin of error of between 77% and 83% (assuming that 80% of Liberian schools are in urban centers).

Since the survey aimed at a large sample size at all levels, and a statistically significant results, a high confidence level was taken to be 95% (the risk to accept that the chosen sample is within the average or “bell curve” of the population). This level is standard for most social-science applications, though higher levels can be used.

Since educational institutions are heterogeneous and unevenly distributed throughout the country between urban and rural areas, a modest 80%-20% (urban to rural) was adopted as degree of variability for all target populations. To ensure more accurate results under such condition, the sample size was made larger than the calculated values (about 7 times for the student, plus five for schools/administrators, and plus 90 for teachers), since the population with the minority attribute (rural areas) is so low (see table 1 above).

Measures were taken to ensure that the base sample sizes, the number of respondents were contacted after the conduct of the survey. Enumerators were thoroughly schooled to ensure that they correctly administer and collect as many questionnaires as possible. The strategy yielded a 100% response rate for the survey.

3.3. Sources of Data

Data was collected from both rural and urban schools. The study thus aimed to provide a representative picture of the state of science and technology education in Liberian Senior High Schools. The study team thus considered a number of factors in the selection of regions but not limited to:

geographical location; and

performance of students at the West African Examination Council examinations.

Both secondary and primary data were collected:

Secondary data were collected from desktop reviews/document analysis and other publications relating to the educational system in Liberia, and government ministries. The rationale of this approach was two-fold. First, the study aimed to provide quantitative data on the status of science and technology education in terms of student performance, availability and quality of resources (human and material), physical infrastructure, quality and access to education and employment. Access and quality of education focused on both urban/rural populations (i.e., to pick up variations in socioeconomic status) and gender. These included statistical data on the conditions of education and employment gathered locally, regionally and nationally across the Republic. Second, qualitative data collected via national-level interviews and documents provided a broader perspective on the nature and scope of science and technology education, particularly in terms of policies, programmes and systems. The two components of this methodology were designed to identify key issues, challenges and their impact on education on the one hand, and to provide insight into the scope, nature, opportunities and outlook for education on the other.

Primary data sources were obtained from the following sources:

Structured Questionnaire

Three separate questionnaires (Annex I-III) addressing variables related the instruction of science and technology were directed to administrators, teachers and students of senior high schools in the 15 counties:

The Administrator Questionnaire was completed by a School administrator (Principal, Vice, or other);

Teacher’s Questionnaire were completed by Senior High School teachers of Mathematics and sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computer sciences); and

The Student Questionnaire was completed by science students of grades 10-12.

The variables measured ranged from availability of science textbooks, laboratories, lab manuals, frequency of laboratory Practical per week, etc for students; availability of library, qualified staff, student-teacher ratio, the presence/absence of higher learning facilities including laboratories, textbooks, capacity building of Instructors, and Instructors qualifications, etc for administrators and teachers.

At each sampling point the team (two members) was to perform three main tasks including introduction of team members:

Questionnaire administration/ Key informants interviews;

Observation; and

Focus group discussions.

Observation: Learning spaces (especially laboratories and libraries) were made available for general observation at the school site. Notes were taken down on the current state of the art of science education in the institution concerned. Pictures were taken to document findings from such investigations.

Focused Group Discussions: At each sampling point, Enumerators had a short focus grouped discussion with the key stakeholders (administrators/students/teachers). The objective was to get details on some of the issues covered and not covered by the questionnaire (class size, Student age, gender disparity, etc)

The officers visited the Education Offices and sampled schools to administer and retrieve the questionnaires within a period ranging from five (5) days to 15 days.

3.4. Data Analysis and Presentation

The analyses of the three questionnaires were done separately but similar items were presented on the same table for comparison purposes. SPSS software and Excel, Frequency counts/tables, Charts, Cross tabulations, discriminant analysis as well as qualitative analysis techniques were the main statistical tools employed in analyzing the data generated. The analyses of the three questionnaires were done separately but in a similar manner.

3.5. Strength of this survey

The strength within this survey is based on the following:

It is not a desktop study

Numerators were trained and sent on the field

By using more than one method of data collection gave room for triangulation of results

Questionnaires were short and simple

All fifteen (15) counties were covered and a sample size larger than standard were used

Many stakeholders and/or key informants were involved

3.6.	Limitation of the survey

During the first phase of the project, several factors posed constraints to the implementation of the data collection exercise. First, delay in disbursing funding for phase one caused the Liberian Science Foundation (LSF) to commence work outside of its planned schedule. For example, data collection was officially planned for September, but the funding delay made it to start in October. Other constraints encountered during the exercise included inaccessible roads – it was extremely difficult to get to some schools in rural Liberia where roads conditions were deplorable. Some Schools Administrators in urban areas especially in Monrovia were uncooperative citing reasons of several surveys undertaking by MOE and other organizations in the past which they have not yet seen the results thereof .

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, tables and charts followed by explanations are given for every category to present a clear picture of the situation. In some cases (very few), simple scientific reporting are made to show the strength of a relation. These findings are organized into five areas: senior high school distribution nationwide per county per sector administration, teacher workforce preparation. curriculum and instruction and support services, and policy. While there are significant findings in each area, several are particularly noteworthy. Data presented include: Distribution of senior high schools in Liberia, Public spending on secondary education, Administrators, the Teaching Corps and Laboratories/Libraries/Textbooks/students.

4.1.	Distribution of Senior High Schools in Liberia

As per the 2010/2011 academic year, a total of 491 senior high schools existed in the Republic of Liberia (MOE, 2011). Of these, 61.10% are in Montserrado while only 0.2% was in River Cess. The mission senior high schools dominate (37.7%) the high school sector in Liberia (Table 4)

Table 4: Distribution of Senior high schools by sector and county

County	Public	Private	Mission	Community	Total	Percentage of total
Bomi	3	1	1	0	5	1.02
Bong	8	5	7	0	20	4.07
Gbarpolu	2	0	0	0	2	0.41
Grand Bassa	2	2	9	0	13	2.65
Grand Cape Mount	6	0	3	0	9	1.83
Grand Gedeh	9	1	4	0	14	2.85
Grand Kru	4	0	0	0	4	0.81
Lofa	11	1	7	0	19	3.87
Margibi	10	7	11	2	30	6.11
Maryland	5	2	8	0	15	3.05
Montserrado	31	143	114	12	300	61.10
Nimba	19	11	18	2	50	10.18
River Gee	2	0	0	0	2	0.41
River Cess	1	0	0	0	1	0.20
Sinoe	2	1	3	1	7	1.43
Total	115	174	185	17	491	100.00

On the whole, the mission and private sector control 76.6% of the entire senior high school sector (Fig 3)

Figure 3: Distribution of Senior High School

Education Institutions by Sector

In terms of overall enrollment, it is again the mission schools that enroll most of Liberian students, far more than the private and community schools put together(Fig 4).

Figure 4: Senior high school enrolment by sector.

Source: MOE. 2011

Gender wise, male students dominate in all sectors and this is most pronounced in the public sector (Fig 5)

Figure 5: Senior High School enrolment by sector and gender:

Source: MOE. 2011

Student population varies significantly across the different counties. Male to Female ratio is highest in Grand Kru and least in Lofa County (Table 5)

Table 5: Variation of student population by county by gender across counties

County	Females	Males	M:F ratio
Bomi	286.00	520.00	1.82
Bong	1771.00	2896.00	1.64
Gbarpolu	59.00	158.00	2.68
Grand Bassa	626.00	1074.00	1.72
Grand Cape Mount	163.00	216.00	1.33
Grand Gedeh	559.00	1087.00	1.94
Grand Kru	189.00	962.00	5.09
Lofa	1013.00	300.00	0.30
Margibi	2455.00	3436.00	1.40
Maryland	1074.00	2089.00	1.95
Montserrado	23570.00	27479.00	1.17
Nimba	2781.00	4072.00	1.46
River Gee	87.00	215.00	2.47
River Cess	16.00	78.00	4.88
Sinoe	254.00	564.00	2.22
Total	34903.00	45146.00

The results suggest significant gender disparity across the different counties. Grade 10 (38%) is the most populous class in Liberian senior high school while grade 12 (29%) is the least. (Fig 6)

Figure 6: Distribution of senior high schools in Liberia;

Source: 2010/2011 survey

Public spending on education in Liberia

According to the World Bank (World Bank, 2008) public spending on education, the total spending (% of government expenditure) in Liberia stood at $12.06 million. Public expenditure on education includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private) and education administration as well as subsidies for private entities (students/households and other private entities). Historical data review and forecasts for Public spending on education (% of government expenditure) in Liberia reveals that this initiative has been on a decline (Fig 7) between 1998 and 2012. This may continue in the same direction the coming years ceteris paribus.

Figure 7: Government educational expenses and forecast s in Liberia

4.3.	Distribution of school Administrators

A total of 291 administrators corresponding to the 291 schools selected were interviewed. (Table 6):

Table 6: Professional status of administrators interviewed

Our target was actually the principals, but in very few cases (less than 10%), vice principals (9.20%) and caretakers (0.3%) acted on their behalf.

Gender wise, the findings showed that of the 291 administrators, 94.8% were males (Table 7).

Table 7: Distribution of administrators according to sex

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Male	276	94.8	94.8	94.8
Female	15	5.2	5.2	100.0
Total	291	100.0	100.0

4.3.1.	Educational attainment of administrators

It takes a special person to deal with all the negatives that you have to deal with as a school principal. He/she listen to constant complaints from parents, teachers, and students. He/she have to deal with all kinds of discipline issues and attend virtually every extra-curricular activity. He/she manages effective/ineffective staffs. He/she has the responsibility to improve their capacities or dismiss them. In order to ably handle these matters, the administrator need not only to have at least a bachelor’s degree, particularly in education, but to be endowed with leadership qualities and teaching experience. The findings showed most administrators are Bachelor degree holders (Fig 8).

Figure 8: Highest educational attainment of SHS administrator

Mission schools have a relatively higher number of administrators with B.Sc (34%) compared to the other sectors (Table 8).

Table 8: Distribution of administrators per sector per qualifications

When school administrators attain atleast a bachelor’s degree level and gain some years of teaching experience, they have an understanding of what goes on in a school on a day to day basis. Gaining this experience is essential in becoming an effective principal. In addition, it will be easier for teachers to relate to you and understand where you are coming from if you have classroom experience because they know you have been one of them. How this statement does relate to the above chart?

4.3.2. Subjects taught other than administrative position

A school administrator (e.g., principal) is the primary leader in a school building. A good leader always leads by example. An effective school administrator is an even greater asset since he deals with young people on the one hand and adults on the other. Providing an effective, seamless link between the school community's individuals determines the administrator's success. Therefore, being involved in the teaching and learning process cannot be over emphasized. Unfortunately, of the 291 surveyed Liberian SHSs, only 23% of the administrator’s part-take in the teaching process

(Fig 9).

Figure 9: Relative participation of SHS administrators in classroom teaching

The results show that a majority of the senior high school administrators are hardly in contact with the students and teachers. Such situations often imply a lack of committed work ethic and an updated knowledge of teaching and learning methodologies which are necessary for the school to remain progressive.

Among other characteristics, it is the duty of an effective administrator to think of creative and effective ways of maximizing teacher productivity. It is important for him/her to be aware of every teacher's style of teaching. An effective administrator will be diplomatic and understanding; he will observe teachers, detect their shortcomings and strengths, give them advice and praise them, and ensure that staffers work in an environment where they feel secure and confident. Therefore, they will be heard. An effective administrator will have excellent people skills.

The Teaching Corps

The Secondary education teachers in Liberia were reported at 12794 in 2008, according to the World Bank. Secondary education teachers include full-time and

part-time teachers. A review of the historical data on this corps reveals that the number is gradually declining over time (Fig 10).

Figure 10: Forecast of of the teaching corps in Liberian secondary schools

Teaching corps and Gender

The study sort to know if both sexes were represented in the teaching corps. From historical data, female secondary education teachers in Liberia were reported at 532 in 2008 by the World Bank. As defined above, these include both full-time and part-time teachers.

Our study revealed that Males (98.3%) male staff significantly differ from females on a linear combination of three sectors, public, private, and mission (Table 8, Fig 11).

Table 9 Gender distribution of Liberian SHS teaching corps

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Male	674	98.3	98.3	98.3
Female	12	1.7	1.7	100.0
Total	686	100.0	100.0

Figure 11: Gender distribution of teaching corps by sector

We infer from the above table and figure that there is significant gender disparity in the teaching profession in all sectors. To an extent, this could act as a negative motivation to female students to choose careers in science or express genuine interest in science. However, the situation might not be intentional but as a result of a combination of factors including:

The cultural problem of feminine complacency in Liberia. They undoubtedly think that everything challenging is for the males,

The social pressure on female to get married early in life could cause female to opt of careers that are less time consuming to obtain,

It is also keenly observed that most females who gain science education opt for careers in the health sciences and thus stay away from the classroom, and

The domestic role of females in the Liberian society. Even in the case of two-income families, females are still tasked with the greater burden of managing the home.

Furthermore, a discriminant analysis was conducted to perform a multivariate-analysis of variance test of the hypothesis that male staff significantly differ from females on a linear combination of three sectors; public, private, and mission. The obtained value of Wilks’ lambda, .987, was significant at p <.003 (Chi-square = 8.841, df = 1, Box’s M =0.100, n.s.). The canonical correlation between the grouping variable and the new canonical variable composed of the two predictors was 0.113. Mean differences were in the expected direction: mean for duty post of school administrator was 1.19 for the males and 1.00 for the females. Table 9 presents the standardized discriminant function coefficients.

Table 10: Group statistics

Higher scores on the discriminant function corresponded to higher gender disparity of the discriminating variables. Table 11 presents the group centroids on the discriminant function.

Table 11: Functions at Group Centroids

Sex	Function
1
Male	.015
Female	-.854

Unstandardized canonical discriminant functions evaluated at group means

Males had a high, positive centroid as opposed to females with respect to the function, corresponding to higher duty posts in schools for men than women. Table 12 presents the results of the re-classification analysis:

Table 12: Classification Results

a68.2% of original grouped cases correctly classified.

The results from the above table show that the discriminant function was successful in reclassifying 68.2% of the cases.”

A time series forecast show that this number has been dropping over the years (Fig 12).

Figure 12: A time series forecast of female teaching corps in Liberia

Citizenship of Teachers

The nationalities of the teachers interviewed were Americans (9%), Ghanaians (4.9%), Nigerians (4.2%) and Sierra Leoneans (0.7%) as shown in (Table 13).

Table 13: Distribution of Instructors by citizenship by sector

Sector	Total
Public	Private	Mission
Instructo rs	American % within	26 (100%)	0 0	0 0	26 100%
Ghanaian % within	14 (66.7%)	7 (33.3%)	0 0	21 100%
Liberian % within	172 (28.5%)	192 (31.8%)	240 (39.7%)	604 100%
Nigerian % within	12 (60%)	2 (10.0%)	6 (30%)	20 100%
Sierra L % within	2 (13.3%)	2 (13.3%)	11 (73.3%)	15 100%
Total % within	226 32.9%	203 29.6%	257 37.5%	686 100%

About 40% of the teaching corps are foreigners. In the public sector, there are few Liberians than they are in other sectors. Probably, these foreigners (if not all) are sponsored by international organizations or their home countries. The Liberian government need not rely on such soft situations for this is definitely not sustainable. The subsequent brain drain and the exodus of foreign professionals during the war is a lesson.

Educational qualification of teachers

Senior high school teachers are either holders of High School diplomas, B. Certificate, AA Certificates or bachelor’s degrees (Table 14)

Table 14: Frequency distribution of educational qualifications

of senior high school teachers

Most of the teachers with a bachelor’s degree work with the mission (Fig 13).

Most science teachers in SHS have the first degree (bachelor) and as such, there must be a resonance of good performance of students in the sciences in proficiency exams. However, the seeming irony of poor performance of students in the sciences suggests that there are problems with regards to the proper evaluation of students which may be as a result of the interference of administration in the evaluation process.

Figure 13: Sector Comparison of educational

Attainment of SHS teachers

Do teachers actually merit their qualifications or could it be natural dullness of students, or the lack of instruction materials or lack of effective and efficient training in pedagogy and teaching?

Teaching is not for all. Though some teachers are born, some are made. Thus, there is need for holders of the bachelor’s degree or better to undergo formal training before handling the chalk, for though academically qualified, they lack methodology, pedagogy, evaluation, and other essential teaching skills.

Teaching Experience

Teaching experience, defined here is the number of years in active service in the same profession varies across sectors. (Fig 14)

Figure 14: Variation of teaching experiences across sectors

Definition: A very experienced staff, as per this document is one who has served for more than 20 years, while teachers with little experiences have between 0 and 5 years of teaching.

Teacher Workforce Preparation

One of the most fundamental and persistent weaknesses of the Liberian education system is teacher preparation and training. Our findings indicate that teacher preparation is inadequate at the SHS in several respects. First, as highlighted in the previous section the low performance in mathematics and the sciences indicate that teachers lack the capacity to adequately prepare their students. A second aspect is the utter lack of mathematics and science teachers. The present section addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the current teacher education system, beginning with the lack of teachers in science, technology and mathematics.

Capacity Building: In-service Training

Based on investigations made with teachers who attended workshops/seminars, teacher candidates do not have the opportunities to practice applying learner-centered and other, effective pedagogical approaches-problem that has been highlighted elsewhere (e.g., Osaki, 2007). Teachers simply do not have the knowledge and skills needed to teach effectively. The government of the Republic of Liberia has made provisions for in-service training as a way to build capacity of teacher’s in order to keep them updated with new pedagogic skills. According to our field investigation, most of these trainings have been through workshops (Table 15)

Table 15: Capacity building methods used by government

Responses	Percent of Cases
N	Percent
Capacity Building(a)	Capacity building through conferences	26	4.3%	4.8%
Capacity building through seminars	117	19.5%	21.8%
Capacity building through workshops	457	76.2%	85.1%
Total	600	100.0%	111.7%

Again, the frequency and duration of in-service teacher training is insignificant (Table 16) and therefore may not cause significant impacts. There is need for greater investment of resources in pre-service and in-service preparation and training programs.

Table 16: Frequency distribution of teachers who have undergone a kind of training

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Pre-service	219	31.9	31.9	31.9
In-service	298	43.4	43.4	75.4
Not Applicable	169	24.6	24.6	100.0
Total	686	100.0	100.0

Teacher education curricula has to be revised and teacher training colleges set up or added (if at all some already exist). If such structures are well equipped with necessary infrastructure, human and financial resources, and above all, well monitored, positive change can be realized with respect to the quality of our staff/teachers. In-service training, which seem to be promoted through workshops/seminars lacks the lecture-and-seminar format of teacher education, is wholly inadequate to the preparation of secondary school teachers, teacher trainers, education administrators, curriculum specialists and other professionals which a nations college of education can provide.

Aside, there is the total absence of a network of Teacher Resource Centers. Such institutions, if consistently and adequately supported could be a catalyst in pedagogy and learning. There is currently no organized, established system of in-service teacher education and training at any of the levels of education.

From the educational policies and many other efforts put in place by the MOE in collaboration with the highest authority and international development organizations, Primary and Secondary Education Development Plans have greatly expanded access to education across the country. Yet the quality of education has suffered, in large part due to the incapacity (i.e., limited resources) of the educational system to meet the increased demand as these programmes have been implemented.

However, although both policy and programme initiatives highlight the importance of pre-service and in-service teacher training, quality of education, and books and other materials, measures to address these issues have not been fully implemented and/or have been poorly articulated within policy/programme documents. From the forgoing, it seems like the policies on science and technology, probably because of implementation problems, have not delivered the kind of growth that one might imagine of a nation committed to a strong, technology-based development plan.

The inadequacies highlighted here have adversely affected the capacity of the education system to provide access to quality education for all students, but especially for girls (and perhaps children living in rural areas) as evident in student performance in the WAEC examination over the years (Table 17).

Table 17: Performance of SHS students at the WAEC examinations

SUBJECT	YEAR	ENTRY	SAT	NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE THAT SAT AND OBTAINED GIVEN GRADES
CREDIT	PASSED	FAILED
1	2	3	4	5	6	1-6	7	8	7-8	9
BIOLOGY	2009	Cand. %	21,342 100.00%	20,633 96.68%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	2 0.01%	4 0.02%	72 0.35%	771 3.74%	849 4.11%	3,818 18.50%	8,040 38.97%	11,858 57.47%	7,926 38.41%
2010	Cand. %	22,658 100.00%	22,000 97.10%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	25 0.11%	66 0.30%	93 0.42%	98 0.45%	282 1.28%	8,543 38.83%	6,381 29.00%	14,924 67.84%	6,794 30.88%
2011	Cand. %	23,829 100.00%	23,082 96.87%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	4 0.02%	2 0.01%	11 0.05%	312 1.35%	329 1.43%	3,894 16.87%	13,718 59.43%	17,612 76.30%	5,141 22.27%
CHEMISTRY	2009	Cand. %	21,241 100.00%	20,522 96.62%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	10 0.05%	15 0.07%	29 0.14%	98 0.48%	152 0.74%	8,543 41.63%	6,381 31.09%	14,924 72.72%	5,446 26.54%
2010	Cand. %	22,364 100.00%	21,295 95.22%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	3 0.01%	50 0.23%	54 0.23%	2,989 14.04%	12,664 59.47%	15,653 73.51%	5,588 26.24%
2011	Cand. %	23,829 100.00%	23,074 96.83%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	1 0.00%	13 o.o6%	48 0.21%	461 2.00%	523 2.27%	4,620 20.02%	12,677 54.94%	17,297 74.96%	5,254 22.77%
MATH	2009	Cand. %	21,344 100.00%	20,641 96.71%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	3 0.01%	11 0.05%	30 0.15%	151 0.73%	195 0.94%	2,229 10.80%	12,509 60.60%	14,738 71.40%	5,708 27.65%
2010	Cand. %	22,658 100.00%	22,000 97.10%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	1 0.00%	1 0.00%	4 0.02%	26 0.12%	32 0.15%	2,797 12.75%	13,472 61.24%	16,269 73.95%	5,699 25.90%
2011	Cand. %	23,852 100.00%	23,180 97.18%	0 0.00%	1 0.00%	2 0.01%	4 0.02%	9 0.04%	126 0.54%	142 0.61%	1,764 7.61%	17,978 77.56%	19,742 85.17%	3,296 14.22%
PHYSICS	2009	Cand. %	21,175 100.00%	20,465 96.65%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	1 0.01%	7 0.03%	9 0.04%	28 0.14%	45 0.22%	6,112 29.87%	6,547 31.99%	12,659 61.86%	7,761 37.92%
2010	Cand. %	22,195 100.00&	21,640 97.50%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	4 0.02%	3 0.01%	3 0.01%	16 0.07%	26 0.12%	2,618 12.10%	12,841 59.34%	15,459 71.44%	6,155 28.44%
2011	Cand. %	23,846 100.00%	22,823 95.71%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	0 0.00%	1 0.00%	0 0.00%	3 0.01%	4 0.02%	792 3.47%	15,194 66.57%	15,986 70.04%	6,833 29.94%

In science and technology education the inadequacy of teacher preparation and training in Liberia is partly a matter of policy development, and partly a matter of its implementation.

For example, curricula for SHS and other levels of education pre-service education could exist and generally strong in structure and content. Teacher education programmes may emphasize practical experiences for teacher candidates in the application of learner-centered instructional approaches. However, teacher candidates at the SHS, like at other levels do not have adequate opportunities to apply, practice, discuss, reflect and improve their knowledge and skills in the use of new, competency-based curricula, inquiry and context-based instructional practices and methods of continuous assessment. Yet teachers’ knowledge and ability in the application of these integrated approaches to teaching and learning are crucial to the quality of education. The present section examines these issues, drawing on data from teacher and student surveys as well as interviews with officials at the national level.

Distribution of Trained Teachers by Sector

Teachers at the SHS level should be graduates. However, courses for prospective teachers are greatly undersubscribed and many who register and go through the courses do not end up teaching. As a consequence, many teachers in senior high schools are not college graduates. In-service training is almost non-existent and the great majority of teachers (24.6%) have received little or no in-service training since entering the classroom compared to only 31.8% who received pre-service training (Table 18)

Table 18: Frequency distribution of different training options

teachers have undergone

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Pre-service	218	31.8	31.8	31.8
In-service	299	43.6	43.6	75.4
Never trained	169	24.6	24.6	100.0
Total	686	100.0	100.0

Most of the teachers who have undergone pre-service training are with the public institution. Combined, this sector seems to have the least number of trained teachers.

Of those who underwent in-service training, most of whom are from the mission and private sectors (Fig 15). Though most of the teachers indicated that they have undergone in-service training, our field investigations show that the duration and frequency of this exercise hardly meet up with the professionalism it deserves. This means that there is much room for improving the quality of teaching at the SHS level.

Figure 15: Pre- and In-service training per sector

In this regard, there is need for a faculty of education or at least a professional training center, with objective specific curriculum for a graduate/post-graduate diploma in education, in various disciplines (Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics, Biology, and Computer sciences). This could be extended to include vocational and technical programs for technical education (Engineering and Agriculture).

The Problem of Access versus Quality

Increasing numbers of teachers are entering degree and training programmes in universities and colleges nationwide. Existing staff are generally well-trained and experienced. However, these institutions are too few and not fully staffed. The problem of understaffing is particularly acute in all sectors, where you can fine a teacher teaching more than a single subject at different levels, subjects which are out of their areas of specialization.

Furthermore, you can find an Engineer teaching chemistry/physics/mathematics. You can also find someone who studied agriculture teaching biology,/chemistry; an Economist teaching mathematics/biology (Table 19). Again, there are not enough or adequate laboratories and equipment in most Senior High Schools; critical shortages of teachers and materials in mathematics, science and technology exist in most SHSs, including computers; and student performance in science and mathematics on national examinations remains generally low. These shortages are so dire in all of the counties and the vast majority of schools under study, across the Republic of Liberia, as to put at risk the capacity of the system, to provide quality education into the future. On the whole, the present picture of SHS education is one of both limited access and quality resulting in low effectiveness and efficiency.

Table 19: Relationship between area of specialization and subject taught by teachers

Problems with the quality of SHS education is indicated by the poor grades at the WAEC examinations, and by the fact that students in Liberia are not sitting the international West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) taken by Grade 12 students of other member countries of WAEC. Obviously, this is because of inadequate resources, especially required textbooks, functional laboratories, and well equipped libraries.

Large class sizes are widely blamed as the cause of poor performance of pupils and students at all levels and are thus cited as a major reason why teachers do not apply constructivist (e.g., learner-centered) pedagogical approaches. Yet the structural issues of changing curricula and expanding enrolments without available, adequate in-service and pre-service teacher education systems and programmes in Liberia during the past years present a more fundamental set of problems.

Teacher Preparation and Student Performance

The study team argues that the absence of a comprehensive, coherent and fully-functioning teacher preparation and training system is aside from the problems of policy and administration. Performance in the sciences and mathematics has been particularly affected by the incompleteness and inadequacy of the current teacher education and training system. Teacher qualifications, in terms of subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical skill, is most lacking in science and mathematics.

Given the lack of knowledge among senior high school teachers in the study about context-based approaches to teaching, combined with the low performance in science and mathematics on international examinations, the poor classroom conditions and the significant pressure to get teachers into the classroom, it is likely that teachers are not being thoroughly assessed during pre-service training. System expansion, especially at the primary school level, has been largely incomplete due to the lack of human and material resources needed, according to the data gathered through key informant interviews on teacher deployments, textbooks and facilities.

As it stands today, the quality of education risks lagging substantially behind access, which is itself at risk in the face of inadequate pre-service and in-service training capacities. The education system therefore cannot maintain the significant gains already made in enrolments, drop-outs, promotion and student performance in the absence of adequate, consistent pre-service and in-service trainings. This is particularly true of science and mathematics education, where students and teachers all express frustration and doubt over their own knowledge and preparation.

Training opportunities

The government of Liberia through the MOE has been putting in a lot with regard to capacity, to build the capacities of teachers irrespective of the sector. She has been doing so through seminars and workshops as in-service training opportunities and as an opportunity for untrained staff to gain pedagogic skills. However, only a few numbers of teachers attend such training opportunities, the least, 6.5%, being teachers from the public sector (Table 20)

Table 20: In-service training undertaken sector wise

Laboratories/Libraries/Textbooks/Students

Those who do teach in SHSs are confronted with, amongst other things, a lack of science laboratories that are properly maintained, equipped and stocked, an absence of computers and even computers in a number of schools as well as poorly stocked and staffed libraries.

Only 6% of the SHS teachers have excellent laboratory skills while 32% have poor skills (Fig 16)

Figure 16: Ratings on laboratory skills of Science teachers

Most of the teachers with excellent laboratory skills are from the private and mission schools (Fig 17)

Figure 17: Laboratory skills with respect to teachers from different sectors

Most science teachers (75.36%), actually representing schools which do not have access to science labs indicated that there were no practicals of any kind in their institutions (Table 21).

Table 21: Frequency of laboratory practical per week as Perceived by teachers/students

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	1x wkly	96	13.99	14.0	14.1
2x wkly	32	4.66	4.7	18.7
3x wkly	14	2.04	2.1	20.8
None	517	75.36	75.2	96.0
Don’t Know	8	1.17	1.2	97.2
Not Applicable	19	2.77	2.8	100.0
Total	686	100	100.0
Total	686	100.0

General Appreciation of Laboratory Situation by Administrators

On the whole, 84.2% of the institutions surveyed had no laboratories. Of those which have a lab of a particular type:

26% had a Biology lab,

26.7% had a Chemistry lab,

21.2% had a Computer science lab, and

26% had a physics lab

Of these laboratories, only 12.4% of the labs were functional, however, with equipments ranging from archaic/obsolete and insufficient to (in the majority of the cases) to modern, in very few cases. The disparity in laboratory Situation in the Counties and sector wise are presented in annex V.

Administrators across all sectors generally describe their laboratories as poor, with public institutions recording the worst cases (Fig 18)

Figure 18: Situation of science laboratories across sectors

This confirms information from teachers and students which revealed that science teaching and learning has been abstract; imaginary storytelling and blur - neither student nor teachers neither see nor touch what is basically taught due to lack of laboratory equipment and facilities. Even where there exists some kind of laboratories, there is lack of trained science demonstrators/instructors and science laboratory materials to teach effectively and efficiently. As such, there is lack of interest or motivation on the part of the learner.

These key prevailing conditions, coupled with the breakdown of family values due to erosion of vital disciplinary pillars in the face of challenging economic conditions might be construed as a justification of the mass failure of students. Therefore, there is a dire need to request for external financial assistance and science experts or personnel from our partners in progress and friendly nations and international NGOs to help rebuild our educational image to international standard and to also help with manpower development.

A relatively higher proportion (62.5%) of the school administrators declared that their schools hadn’t laboratories. Most of the schools though had laboratories; these laboratories were not functional (Fig 19)

Figure 19: Laboratory situation across school sectors

Of the institutions which have a laboratory of some kind, only a negligible number are functional while the remaining structures lack laboratory materials and equipment viz:

Eighteen (18) of the Schools have Laboratory facilities but need renovation, furniture, chemicals, apparatus, equipment, etc. ,

More than 85% of the schools, especially those in the public and private sectors need reconstruction of laboratory facilities, furnishing and equipping;

Majority of the schools need reconstruction of laboratory facilities: furnishing and equipping, picture 2;

These laboratories were destroyed during the wars, Pictures 1; and

Over 95% of the schools were only teaching theoretically without lab.

Picture 1: A functional laboratory before the war but now stands in ruin.

Picture 2: Shows a typical Laboratory in few SHS but not equipped

A partially furnished and equipped functional laboratory

There seem to be an association between geographical location (Urban/Rural) and availability of laboratories (‘χ2(1) = 23.98, P<0.001;). However, this relationship is not strong as schools with a laboratory of any kind almost level up with those without laboratories (also see Fig 20).

Figure 20: Distribution of schools with/without labs per location

Libraries and Textbooks

Possibly the greatest challenge for teachers and students is the dearth of appropriate and up-to-date textbooks. An outdated curriculum and syllabuses has not helped matters. At the national level, the student to textbook ratio is approximately 4 to a single book. In the majority of counties, the ratio is even larger. Of the 129 schools which have access to a kind of library, there exist on average, 4 Biology, 3 Chemistry, 2 Computer science, 7 Mathematics and 4 Physics textbooks per school library (Table 22).

Table 22: Descriptive statistics of the number of Teachers having access to science books

Biology	Chemistry	Computer science	Mathematics	Physics
N	Valid	291	291	291	291	291
Missing	0	0	0	0	0
Mean	3.36	2.80	1.87	6.93	3.23
Mode	0	0	0	0	0
Std. Deviation	7.384	7.190	8.488	27.128	10.594
Sum	979	816	543	2018	940

As shown in the table, most of the schools did not have a single science book in their libraries. Of the libraries which had no science books 93% of them had no computer science books (Fig 21)

Figure 21: Percentage of books that could not be found in libraries

In general,

All the schools lack textbooks(see annex VI);

All the schools which the research team met were only teaching theoretically without lab and textbooks. and

Teachers make personal research according to the curriculum to present lesson to students.

Over all, the results confirm two of the major challenges inscribed in the Liberian Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan (PRS, 2008) including especially:

inadequate textbooks, chairs, desks, and school supplies;

Inadequate to lack of modern laboratory space, equipments, lab demonstrators, Lab. Chemicals , Lab. Equipment , Apparatus , Furniture/tools, Manuals, etc

The problem of capacity at the county level is two-fold:

First, the widespread inadequacy of resources across the Republic appears to be a national phenomenon and therefore dependent more on central planning and administrative functions. Second, it is difficult to imagine county-level officials taking charge of their own affairs in education without substantial training and other forms of technical support even with the authority, for example, to recruit new science teachers to meet their growing needs.

Students Access to Laboratories/Textbooks

Students were asked to give reasons why they may not like the sciences. Their responses are summarized in the table below (Table 23). 17.4% of them offered reasons ranging from naturally difficult (0.8%), not easy to understand (3.8%), too mathematical (9.3%), very abstract (2%), to no interest (0.3%). 82.1% sees no application for science in Liberia as a reasons for not liking the sciences. This proportion is similar to those students who expressed their total likeness for the sciences (96.5%).

Table 23: Reasons why student dislike the sciences

Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Naturally difficult	35	0.8	.8	.8
Not easy to understand	167	3.8	3.8	4.6
Too mathematical	410	9.3	9.4	14.0
Very abstract	86	2.0	2.0	16.0
Time consuming	17	0.4	.4	16.4
No job opportunities	31	0.7	.7	17.1
No interest	13	0.3	.3	17.4
NO APPLICATION IN LIBERIA	3644	82.1	82.6	100.0
Total	4372	99.3	100.0
Total	4403	100.0

These students express varying ambitions ranging from Medical doctor (20%), Engineers (18%, Nurses (25%), Agriculturalists (10%), to teachers (0.3%). It appears young Liberian already have a phobia on the teaching profession.

Though students express great desire in the sciences, they seem to be handicapped by a number of factors including:

Limited access to textbooks: over 80% of the sampled population had no access to science textbooks. Only 14.6% of the 4403 senior high school students owned a science book of their own. They would either beg from friends (69.2%) or get it from the limited and poorly equipped school libraries (16%). How can students without textbooks carry out research of their own? How will they do their home works? These and many other puzzles simply offer some explanations as to why their performances at the WAEC examinations should be generally poor. (See table 100).

Limited or no access to laboratory manuals: Only 5.9% of the students (260 out of the 4403) had access to laboratory manuals. This, however, correlates with the proportion of schools having functional laboratories. Again, this constraint student’s performances, even in the easiest sciences like Biology.

Limited or no access to laboratory practical: 91% of the students had no access to Laboratory practical. If students never attended labs, the worst situation was that of ICT. Of the 4403 students that were surveyed, only 9.4% had access to computer laboratories. Even amongst staff and administrators, the situation is very alarming.

Lack of lab demonstrators: Generally, schools have no lab demonstrators.

As earlier mentioned, limited trained teacher: As earlier indicated in figure 12, Liberia has limited trained teachers, and according to World Bank projections, this may drastically reduce in the coming years if nothing is done. There is need for not only to review the curriculum in teachers training college, but also to financially motivate the teaching corps.

Summary of Findings

There are a number of key findings which emerged from the present study. These findings are organized into five areas: administration, teacher workforce preparation, curriculum and instruction and support services, and policy. While there are significant findings in each area, several are particularly noteworthy. As per our focus group discussions:

Structural incentives for students and teachers to enter careers in science and technology in Liberia are especially weak, including low pay, poor conditions of work, inadequate support mechanisms (e.g., academic/career advising) and lack of preparation to meet either current or future economic and social needs;

Resources are lacking in almost every aspect of education, including insufficient numbers of qualified teachers of mathematics and science at the senior high school level, inadequate equipment and materials, textbooks and facilities (i.e., laboratories and libraries). While resources needs are greater in rural areas, only a fraction of the needed resources is available in most schools in the country, regardless of the region;

The quality of teaching is inadequate to meet the learning needs of students at all levels, in several respects:

First, many SHS teachers lack the minimum academic qualifications generally and in their subject matters in mathematics and science - to perform competently in the classroom;

Second, SHS teachers are not well trained in the use of appropriate pedagogies. Whereas most teachers surveyed do know and report applying some context-based approaches, student performance in mathematics and science reflect neither thorough subject-matter knowledge nor adequate knowledge/application of the competency-based approaches that are the basis of the science and mathematics curricula; and

Third, while the teacher preparation curricula do, at the SHS level, incorporate learner-centered approaches to teaching and assessment, the structure, organization and implementation of teacher preparation programmes are lacking in this respect. A complete assessment and overhaul of the current teacher preparation system is needed, especially at the primary-school level, where children’s formative experiences with learning in mathematics and science have far-reaching effects upon students’ attitudes, knowledge and skills development.

The shortage of qualified teachers is particularly troubling, given the weak teacher education and training capacity of the educational system. Although these issues have been known for some time, the depth of the needs across counties and sectors, have perhaps been sorely underestimated, as the data presented here show. Student performance depends upon teacher quality more than almost any single educational input. Yet entire schools across the country are left without teachers in mathematics and the sciences, at both the primary and the SHS level. Much of the problem relates to policy. Existing policies do not clearly and adequately address the problem.

Policy

The present study highlights two primary issues of policy, in the Republic of Liberia. One is the lack of emphasis and integration of science and technology education within existing education policy and strategy frameworks. The other is the lack of clarity of current science and technology education policies, which in turn undermines their proper implementation. These inadequacies indicate particularly weak linkages between science and technology education and national development goals and strategies within the existing education policy framework.

Although the currently policy of the Republic of Liberia is now being reviewed and revised, the issue of linkages warrants further examination. The status of the current science and technology education policy was not, however, clear at the time of the needs assessment study. Regardless, differing educational needs and quality of service provision (e.g., resources), among other factors, in the Republic of Liberia are key to the proper analysis of policy linkages.

The fundamental issue of policy in science, mathematics and technology education for the Republic of Liberia is the persistent poor performance at the SHS level (and probably at lower levels). Related to this issue are those of teacher availability and quality. If there are no qualified/trained teachers in so many schools, as it is the case with almost all the SHSs in our country, then how can one expect students at this level to receive a quality education in these subject areas?

The government of Liberia, through the MOE and stakeholders need to strengthen professional training institutions for teachers at all levels. Seminars, which is what government currently promote cannot replace formal training institutions where teachers are trained from 1 year (for primary school teachers having at least a senior high school certificate) to at least three years (for teachers in junior and senior high schools).

One of the main possible reasons for policy failure is lack of proper implementation. This is probably the case with the educational policy in Liberia. Still, another, more plausible reason is that the role of science and technology to Liberia’s development, and hence, that of science and technology education have not been clearly articulated within existing policy frameworks. From our field investigations, it is evident that role and importance of science and technology to the achievement of Liberia’s education development goals is neither clear nor adequately integrated. Several issues make these findings apparent:

Higher educational institutions are not actively involved in research and development activity in science and technology;

Current teacher education and training policy is weak and lacks a clear implementation strategy;

ICT integration within education programmes is essentially non-existent, despite its emphasis within the current ICT for basic education policy framework;

Negative trends in students’ performance on national examinations(WAEC) persist in science and mathematics;

Educational programmes in science and technology at both secondary and tertiary levels are not sufficiently relevant to the demands of the job market;

Formal programmes in academic and career guidance and/or counseling are lacking for students at SHS levels; and

Promotion and incentives for students and prospective teachers to enter careers in science and technology are either inadequate or ineffective.

At first glance, some of these issues may appear to be administrative, due to problems of implementation. After all, performance depends upon investment in facilities, equipment and other materials, as well as adequate school leadership, among other factors. Yet these and other shortcomings of the educational system all point to a fundamental failure of policy goals to appropriately and effectively link science and technology education to its real-life application and proper role in national development.

Policy Aims and Goals

The existing education policy framework shows that science and technology education does indeed have a role to play in national and individual development. For example, the following mission and vision statements:

Mission statement: to provide all Liberians with the opportunity to access and complete affordable education of a quality, relevance and appropriateness that meets their needs and that of the nation,

Vision statement: to provide a system of education that is flexible, evolves with time and fully meets the needs and aspirations of the people individually and collectively as a nation.

These mission and vision statements clearly imply that science and technology have a role to play in education. References to the use of human resources to promote national development, the acquisition and application of technological knowledge and skills to meet the needs of industry and economy’ all point to a recognized connection between science and technology education and desired development outcomes. But what exactly is the nature of this role?

SWOT Analysis of Senior High School Students

To analyze the present status of the educational system in Liberia, the SWOT framework will be utilized, which lists the system’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As in any strategic planning process, the aim will be to try balancing all available capabilities through maximizing strengths, minimizing weaknesses, avoiding or neutralizing threats, and capitalizing on opportunities.

Strengths

Free education granted for elementary level,

Impressive increase in public spending on education since the 1990s,

Large expansion in the number of schools nationwide,

Improvement in enrollment rates since the nineties according to official estimations, and

Cooperation with several donor agencies to enhance educational reform and development.

Weaknesses

A number of weaknesses mark the educational system in Liberia and the senior high schools in particular including but not limited to:

There seem to be less attention to girls’ education including Girls Education Initiative. Gender awareness and institutional analyses could be essential in addressing this unfortunate disparity;

Continuous efforts are needed at reforming the education system, including:

new approaches to the training and utilization of teachers,

the increased use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT),

reformed student assessment and examination approaches, and

Curriculum and teaching methods reform and new approaches to the management of reform at all levels.

Greater emphasis on teachers training and community participation. Many attempts had been made by government the years over but the organization and durations of such programmes had so many lapses. Parent Teachers Associations (PTA), if well organized can be instrumental in assisting government in providing infrastructure, laboratories, libraries, etc like it is the case in English speaking Cameroon schools;

Establishing National Standards for Education; and

Decentralization Efforts in the form of a new school based approach.

The poor performance of the Education system in Liberia may be attributed to several main factors; some related to problems inherited from past decades, and some related to current existing inefficiencies.

4.7.2.1	Financial problems

A) Shortage of Financial Resources:

Despite the benefit of remarkable resources during the nineties, yet this does not cover the legacy of the past deterioration in the education system especially starting with the mid seventies to the end of the eighties, which also affected the quality and efficiency of the system. The inefficiency of the education system, both in terms of external or internal efficiency, has been a long time problem. Government therefore, may have to review budgetary allocations to secondary schools (SHSs) in order to meet up with the current challenges.

B) Shortage of Physical Facilities:

This includes insufficient school buildings, inadequate school buildings and inadequate Infrastructure. Despite the increasing supply of schools especially since the 1990s, the quantitative and qualitative shortage of schools is still the most acute problem of the Liberian educational system. Furthermore, there is a problem of inadequate teachers’ remuneration and insufficient incentives for attracting efficient qualified staff. A decentralized system of paying salaries could also solve the problem of teachers leaving far and distant areas to Montserrado for salaries.

4.7.2.2.	Quality problems

The problem of the education sector is mainly its inefficiency, or poor quality, which adversely affected the retention capability of the education system on one hand, and both the private costs of education (including the opportunity cost) and its rate of return, on the other hand. This situation of deteriorating quality and the inefficiency of the system could be greatly attributed to a long term shortage of financial resources in the Liberian education system, combined with a misallocation of resources (in addition to several other social and economic factors).

The education system seem to focus more on the enforcement of rules and regulations, rather than on improving student learning, which in itself represents a significant factor impeding acquisition of basic skills. Teachers do not organize their work according to their students’ learning needs, but rather in accordance with national directives on curriculum and lesson planning. This reinforces mechanistic teaching and rote learning.

The mastery of basic skills of reading and writing and mathematics is low. From our field survey, it is evident that the mastery of those skills which are supposed to be acquired through elementary and junior levels of education are significantly low (about 40% for reading and writing).

An important factor affecting the quality of the teaching force is the policy of recruiting teachers from faculties other than education, who have not received any pre-service training.

High student/teacher ratio: The official figures for the average number of students per teacher at the elementary, primary, and secondary levels were 24, 20 & 13, respectively, and were within the acceptable international standards in 1997 (WDI, World Bank, 1998).

With the annual growth in student population, however, in Liberia these figures may be misleading.

High dropout and repetition rates: In Liberia, repetition and drop-out rates are shown as a single number in the data on education system performance. Although the figures do not show trends in repetition and dropout rates independently, they do show declining trends in the last years for both of these variables combined at the Senior high school.

Textbooks and curricula: Currently, the MOE is in charge of Instructional Materials

Development and is responsible for the development/prescription of all student texts, workbooks, and perhaps, teacher guides for all areas of the curriculum. However, one of the main reasons cited for the increasing cost of education to the household over the past decade was the reliance on non-ministerial books, due to the inadequacy of the official textbooks distributed at a relatively lower cost.

4.7.2.3 Access problems

The illiteracy rate: The illiteracy rate has been reduced from a high of 78% percent in 1975, to about 49.6 % in the recent years. Despite increased government efforts to eliminate illiteracy, significant gender, geographic and regional differentials still exist. From enrollment rates reported by previous educational assessments (e.g., MOE, 2009, 2010, 2011), it is evident that illiteracy among females remains higher when compared to males. Rural/urban disparities in literacy attainment are expected to be highest given the low sholarisation rates in these areas. Exact rates of these disparities between rural and urban areas are beyond the scope of this report but are expected to be significant given the great socioeconomic disparities between these locations.

4.7.2.4 . Gender disparities:

Gross enrollment and net enrollment rates in senior high schools both witnessed/ observed improvement in the years over. However, there are more girls than boys out of school. According to the 2010/2011 report, the Net Enrollment Rate (NER) in senior high schools nationwide stood at 7% in 2011, while it was about 9% for boys, which means that there are still lots of girls with no access to schools and these ratios have been fluctuating from one survey to the other. Fluctuation in enrolment ratios reflects the instability of the retention capacity of secondary education level, and the weakness of the education system’s measures and mechanisms to sustain its achievements in this area. Most of the time wealth interacts with gender to exacerbate gaps in education among the poor.

4.7.2.5 Income disparities:

According to the World Bank (2002) it has been evidenced that education was the factor that most affected poverty status. Illiteracy appears to be concentrated among the poor. Large inequalities in educational attainment emerge also among the literate, poverty was inversely correlated with educational attainment.

Opportunities

Opportunities for education reform include:

The human capital available in Liberia, and brainpower, if properly utilized;

The international concern regarding the need for education reform manifested among other things in the Millennium Development Goals and the diversity of donor supported projects implemented in Liberia; and

Possibility for cooperation and coordination between Liberia and friendly countries like the United States of America and some Arab countries in developing and implementing education reform efforts due to abundant similarities in education systems, curricula and teaching methods.

Threats

Threats facing the education sector in Liberia include:

Increasing cost of educational services;

Increasing population growth, especially the percentage of school age children:

New skills and capabilities required of graduates in our global competitive environment;

Instability; and

Rapid pace of change and innovation in technology, communication and science which requires a strong will and ability to adapt.

A puzzling question that remains to be answered is, “What can be done to solve the problems in of the Liberian education system”?

The Liberian Science Foundation thinks that there are several policy reform requirements, and measures to be taken, are primordial in order to solve the many problems and shortcomings of the Liberian Education System. The following section points out briefly to some of those proposed policies and measures categorized by the type of problem encountered, whether related to financing, quality, access, the low economic returns to education, management problems, or the weak link between the outputs of the educational process and the labor market.

What to do about Quality Problems

Following are a group of suggested measures for improving the quality of education in Liberia. Some of those measures have already been started on by the government of Liberia. However, in most cases still a lot remains to be done. Access to quality teaching and learning must be a pre-eminent concern. There are various options to improve the quality of education such as (for details see Fuller & Habit, 1992; WB, WDR, 2000/1):

Raising the proportion of recurrent sector spending allocated to essential textbooks and instructional materials;

Improving and consolidating curriculum and focusing instructional material expenditures on basic subjects (that are relevant to rural or urban needs);

Introducing new learning technologies, including distance education programs for both pupils and teachers;

Improving management information and accounting systems to track allocation of teachers, instructional materials and capital spending;

Conducting research to identify those school inputs and classroom practices that effectively boost pupil/students achievement;

Improving national/international examination systems to provide feedback to schools on educational quality, controlling for differences in pupil background;

Decentralizing certain management functions to encourage local responsibility and accountability;

Increasing the ratio of teaching to non-teaching staff and tracking and reducing the number of “ghost” teachers who have no school assignment; this will free up resources to raise teachers’ salaries to improve the quality of teaching;

Allocating teachers to equalize pupil/teacher ratios across schools and grade levels;

Improving teacher training colleges for teachers at all levels,

Developing more effective teacher training programs that combine residential and more field teaching practice;

Creating incentives for teachers and principals by:

linking a portion of teacher salaries to performance in the classroom; linking a portion of teachers’ salaries to participation in in-service training;

creating “master teacher” roles within schools to encourage professional achievement and development;

changing the role of school inspectors and headmasters to encourage improvement in pedagogy and professional development activities, and

Involving parents in the management of schools because they have the highest motivation for enhancing the quality of education received by their children. As earlier stated, parents have been very instrumental in assisting governments in the provision of infrastructure elsewhere. For this to be functional in Liberia there will be need for awareness building and sensitization.

Improving the quality of education, besides being an objective in itself will also lead to improving the access of the poor (and girls) to education. Low quality of education is one of the major reasons behind the non-accessibility of the poor to education.

Making education accessible to poor people

Increasing investment expenditures (building more schools) and allocating more resources to rural areas are not sufficient to make education accessible to poor people. This requires targeting poor areas, or poor communities (it could be one or two villages in a governorate, or even parts of villages, or urban slums). Targeting those areas must be based on a schools’ shortage map; it could be achieved then at low fiscal impact. A program that can capture those children at risk of dropping out or never attending school will be fiscally more sustainable than a universal initiative. Targeting could also be for enrollment rates and not only schools. Net enrollment rates can be increased in primary education, and hence, senior high schools by introducing targeted programs to areas and schools with low enrollment rates. Targeted programs could also be introduced which would improve the chances of a child completing primary school. Steps that the government can take to establish such programs are:

pinpointing communities with low primary enrollment rates;

identifying the schools with low performance (through exams);and

targeting programs to address these special problems.

Making education accessible includes also making schools acceptable. This can be done through two channels:

Enhancing the physical environment, especially for girls by providing more girls’ schools in appropriate regions (sex-segregated schools may provide the only venue for girls to participate in the educational system in some regions) and by establishing appropriate facilities (a critical minimum of physical infrastructure appears to be needed to attract and retain girls at school); and

Improving the teaching/learning process by providing a relevant curriculum, textbooks and other basics, but especially adapting the schools to local conditions. Hiring more female teachers could enhance girls’ enrollment.

What to Do about Gender Disparities

The investigation of women’s educational status in Liberia revealed that gender disparities still persist as far as access, attainment, training, hence literacy are concerned and that girls tend to perform as well as boys if not better, as far as achievement and completion are concerned. These persisting gender disparities in education prevent Liberia from reaping all the benefits that accrue in terms of development effects, from educating females. There is a great scope for policy to support the principle of gender equality in education, policy measures could include:

Adopting gender - sensitive educational policies

Providing equal education opportunities for boys and girls as is the case now, which is not sufficient. Girls need special attention because of the constraints, especially on the demand side that hinders their full participation in education. Hence, attention must be paid to target girls in education policies, projects and programmes. Gender-targeted approaches have improved females’ access to education in several countries. A national program that provides secondary scholarships to girls in Bangladesh and a project that subsidized the establishment of private schools with grants pegged to girls in Pakistan have successfully increased girls enrollment (WB, 2001); and

Changing the negative gender image and stereotypes:

The government can do a lot in promulgating a new image of the woman and in combating gender stereotypes that are still prevailing, especially by using the media in a positive way. The government could launch public information campaigns to emphasize the value of education and to convince the parents of the importance of girls’ education and of its benefits to the individual, the family and the society in order to influence attitudes and behavior.

5.0	CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

The resulting deficiencies in laboratories and textbooks are some of the ways in the resulting lack of capacity of the educational system to produce qualified graduates in science and technology - those who possess the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet current and future demands. These demands are not limited to those of the private sector, but extend to development needs in the public sector as well.

The other way in which these weak linkages are affecting national development is by limiting the capacity of the technology sector to meet the development needs of the country. Lacking in qualified personnel and the kind of creative collaboration and innovation that so often derived from a vibrant educational system, both private and public sector institutions cannot contribute to national growth as much as they might otherwise do. The result is a development plan hampered by an inadequate educational system, which cannot fulfill its intended role of educating children to meet the country’s current and future needs. Although further study may be needed in order to determine the specific potential of the technology sector for fuelling national economic growth and development, it is clear that much greater investment in science and technology education is needed. However, such investment must begin with a clearer set of policies linking the expansion and development of technology sector with the achievement of fundamental objectives of Liberia’s social and economic development.

The commitment of WAEC to improving the validity and reliability of school-based assessment is without any doubt. This Needs Assessment Study provides a justification for an intervention which is aimed at strengthening the capacity of teachers in school-based assessment at the pre-university level of education.

5.2. Recommendations

From the findings and the foregoing discussion, the following are recommended as a way forward to improving science education in the Republic of Liberia:

The priority needs of Science Education in Liberia

The priority needs of science education in Liberia are as follows:

A well set-up and decentralized science education staff;

Renovation of science laboratories facilities and three science technology training centers;

Equipping science laboratories in all the senior high schools, this should includes,

Lab. Chemicals;

Lab. Equipment;

Lab. Apparatus ;

Lab. Furniture/tools; etc

Office Equipment and furniture ;

Science lab. Kits/Manuals for Senior students ;

Training of science Teachers with emphasis in laboratory demonstrations;

Conduct national survey of science teachers;

Sponsor mobile/vehicles to monitor/evaluate science training programme in the system;

A set of internet with satellite dish for recent information on scientific world;

Make available laboratory equipments; and

Primary school lab equipment not available can be purchased by order. Most trained teachers are using local materials like fish, leaves, cassava, oranges, rubber, etc as typical plant representative.

Teachers

Establish national and regional centers of excellence to effectively link science and technology education to its real-life application. These centers would be designed for promoting the use of context and inquiry-based teaching, training and learning. The centers should likewise work to foster the development of educational partnerships between schools and universities on the one hand and private enterprises and innovation centers on the other;

Establish and strengthen an effective system of teacher preparation, including pre-service and in-service training components at both the primary- and secondary-school level. This system would emphasis the use of context- and inquiry-based instructional methods in science and mathematics;

Provide supplementary curriculum guides for improving teachers’ capacities to implement existing curricula while improving their abilities to use context-based and improvisational instructional practices. Use these materials to foster the development of mobile ‘school laboratories’ in which the local environment and materials become resources for teaching and learning;

Develop a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress on key objectives for the advancement of mathematics, science and technology education, involving stakeholders at all levels including parents;

Integrating science and technology education into all socio-economic national policies and taking steps to ensure proper implementation. These efforts should include key policy recommendations of the MOE, especially those designed to promote interest in science and technology among students, teachers and parents while linking education more closely to potential career opportunities; and

Establish partnerships between Liberian industry, science and technology colleges and universities and similar institutions abroad. These partnerships could include advisory boards, activities for knowledge and technology exchange, workshops and student- or teacher-led action research projects to improve the quality of education in science, mathematics and technology.

Although this is not a complete list, the Foundation makes these recommendations in order to address the needs highlighted in the report while taking into account the political and resource challenges posed by any large-scale reform. However, as noted previously, significant human, material and financial investment is unavoidable, if the educational system is going to meet the nation’s social and economic development goals.

REFERENCES

Bernardes, A.T., Ruiz, A.M., Ribeiro, L.C., and Albuquerque, E.M. (2006).Modeling Economic Growth Fuelled by Science and Technology. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Cedeplar, 2006. – 24p. Texto para discussão ; 294

CIA - The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. April 2, 2009.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/.Retrieved November 20, 2012.

"Education profile - Liberia". Institute for Statistics. UNESCO. 2010. Available at http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco. Retrieved November 20, 2012.

Fuller, Bruce & Aklilu Habte (1992). Education Policy Adjustment, Defining Central Strategy, Assessing Local Effects. In Fuller, Bruce and Aklilu Habte, eds. Adjusting Educational Policies, World Bank Discussion Papers, 132, Africa Technical Department Series, The World Bank, Washington D.C., January.

"LIBERIA: Go to school or go to jail". IRN. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 21 September 2007. http://www.irinnews.org/. Retrieved November 20, 2012.

LISGIS (2008). ’ National Population and Housing Census Final Results: Population by County". 2008 Population and Housing Census. Republic of Liberia. Available at http://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/. Retrieved 2009-06-10. Retrieved November 20, 2012.

Millennium Project (2005). Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals. New York: United Nations.

Moore, Jina (October 19, 2009). "Liberia: Ma Ellen talk plenty plenty Liberian English".Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/liberia. Retrieved November 20, 2012.

Osaki, K.M. (2007) The Challenge of Science and Mathematics Education in Tanzania. Presented at the Workshop to Launch the National Science INSET Programme. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

World Bank (2002a). Arab Republic of Egypt Poverty Reduction in Egypt Diagnosis and Strategy. Volume I: Main Report. Report No. 24234- Egt. Washington D.C. June 29.

World Bank (2000/1). World Development Report 2000/2001. Washington D.C., Oxford University Press, U.S.A

ANNEXES Annex I………………………………………

Students Questionnaire

GENERAL QUESTIONS
COUNTY CODE: ________ DISTRICT CODE: __________ LOCATION: ____________________________________
NAME OF SCHOOL: ___________________________________	LOCATION: __________________________
HIGH SCHOOL STATUS Check one answer	1. GRADE 10 ____ 2. GRADE 11 ____ GRADE 12 ____
TYPE OF SCHOOL	PUBLIC ( ) PRIVATE ( ) MISSION ( )
FORM © STUDENT
1.0	WHAT CLASS ARE YOU IN? GRADE: _______	1.2 DO YOU LIKE SCIENCE COURSES? YES ( ) NO ( )
1.3	IF YES, OF THE PREVIOUS QUESTION WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT(S) Circle one answer	PHYS ( ) CHEM ( ) MATH ( ) BIOL ( ) ICT ( )
1.4	IF YES, REASON(S) FOR FAVORITE SUBJECT (S) Circle one answer	NATURALLY UNDERSTADABLE ( ) EASY TO UNDERSTAND ( ) LESS MATHEMATICAL ( ) LESS ABSTRACT ( ) MORE APPLICABLE ( ) REALISTIC ( ) SELF INTEREST ( )
1.5	IF NO, REASON(S) FOR DISLIKE Circle one answer	NATURALLY DIFFICULT ( ) NOT EASY TO UNDERSTAND ( ) TOO MATHEMATICAL ( ) VERY ABSTRACT ( ) TIME COMSUMING ( ) NO JOB OPPORTUNITIES ( ) NO INTEREST ( )
1.6	CAREER OPTIONS	PLEASE STATE : _________________________
1.7	WHAT ABOUT TEACHER’S PRESENTATION	EXCELLENT ( ) GOOD ( ) FAIR ( ) POOR ( )
1.8	HOW OFTEN DOES THE SCIENCE TEACHER ATTEND LECTURES?	1X-WKLY ( ) 2X-WKLY ( ) 3X-WKLY ( )
1.9	DO YOU ATTEND LABS?	YES ( ) NO ( ) IF YES, HOW OFTEN DO YOU ATTEND LAB? Circle one answer 1X-WKLY ( ) 2X-WKLY ( ) OTHERS ( )
2.0	DO YOU USE LAB MANUAL? YES ( ) NO ( )
2.1	DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE LAB FACILITIES?	YES ( )	NO ( )	ADEQUATE ( ) INADQUATE ( )
2.2	DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE LAB DEMOSTRATOR (S)?	YES ( )	NO ( )	IF YES, HOW MANY : ________
2.3	DO YOU HAVE SCEINCE TEXT BOOK? IF YES,	YES ( )	NO ( )	LIBRARY ( ) PERSONAL ( ) FRIEND ( )
2.4	DO YOU ATTEND COMPUTER LAB?	YES ( )	NO ( )	IF YES, HOW OFTEN DO YOU ATTEND LAB? /__/__/

Annex II………………………………………………………………..

Teachers Questionnaire

Annex III……………………………………………………………….

Administrators Questionnaire

Annex IV…………………………………………………………..

Sample Size Selection of Students/county/Sectors

Annex V…………………………………………………….

Laboratory Situation per County

Annex VI……………………………………………………….

Library Situation per County

This means that, were the population sampled 100 times in the same manner, 95 of these samples would have the true population value within the range of precision specified earlier, and 10 would be unrepresentative samples.