Liberia Turns to Private Sector for Primary Education: New at Reason

At least one official at the United Nation says Liberia is acting “void of moral and legal justification” by turning to a private company to help it offer a better education for Liberia’s public school students.

Marian Tupy writes:

While the data is scarce, only 42 percent of Liberians over the age of 15 knew how to read in 2007. The primary school enrollment rate was a paltry 38 percent in 2014.

As is common in much of Africa, the public education system is plagued by graft, poor quality and truancy on the part of both the students and teachers. The democratically-elected government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former World Bank official, has decided to try something new—outsourcing primary education to a private, for-profit firm, with student fees paid for by the taxpayer.

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