LIBERIA_EDUCATION_STATISTICS_REPORT_2015__16.pdf

LIBERIA EDUCATION STATISTICS REPORT 2015 – 16

Ministry of Education

Republic of Liberia

Monrovia, Liberia www.moe.gov.lr

© Ministry of Education, 2016

This publication may be used in part or as a whole, provided that the Ministry of Education is acknowledged as the source of information.

Copies of this report

Full copies of this report, including all Appendices, are held by the Ministry of Education Central Office. Copies can be made available on request. Full electronic copies are also available through the Ministry’s website, www.moe.gov.lr.

Access to Annual School Census data

The Ministry of Education is committed to making data available to the public and to our partners. Detailed, disaggregated data from the Annual School Census are available through the Ministry’s website. For more information, please refer to the Data-Sharing Process in Appendix 8 of this report.

Contact

Ministry of Education

3rd Street, Sinkor

Monrovia, Liberia

Central Office hotline: 0777 403 676

Email: emis@moe.gov.lr

Web: www.moe.gov.lr

FOREWORD

Message from Minister George Werner

It is my immense pleasure to present the 2015/16 Education Statistics produced by the

Ministry of Education. Sound data and strong analysis are vital as we work to develop evidence-based policies and build a stronger education system for our children. The

Ministry, educators and communities need a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the sector. Encouragingly, the coverage of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) has expanded each year, to achieve nearly complete coverage this year. We hope that 2015–16 will serve as a baseline that we can use to measure trends in education and assess our progress from now on.

The findings of this School Census highlight the inequalities across the system: opportunities and resources are not equitably available to all children across the country. The data presented here also highlights the shortage of qualified, paid teachers. The ratio of students to qualified teachers draws this into stark relief once we start to disaggregate the data: in Sinoe and River Cess counties, there are 90 and 88 students, respectively, for each qualified teacher. These ratios are approximately three times worse than that in Montserrado. Without skilled, supported teachers, we cannot expect to improve learning outcomes in Liberia. Acknowledging these problems is dispiriting, but it is necessary if we are to hold ourselves accountable.

This year marks a significant shift in the Ministry’s strategy for disseminating education statistics. We are publishing a concise, accessible report with a series of focused Appendices, and complementing the report with open access to the full dataset, disaggregated down to the school level. We are setting a new standard of transparency and accessibility of education data, and we hope that this will help us all to understand the challenges we face and rectify the inequalities in our education sector.

Finally, I would like to recognize those who supported the effort it took to produce this data: it would not have been possible without the conscientious work of Ministry staff and Education Officers across all counties and districts. I would also like to commend our school principals and registrars from both public and private schools who completed the Annual School Census questionnaires and delivered them to the Education Officers in a timely manner. Finally, I would like to thank our development partners, in particular USAID, fhi360, and the World Bank for their technical support.

Sincerely, George K. Werner

Minister of Education

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD 3

MAP OF LIBERIA 5

INTRODUCTION 6

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION 6

CONTEXT 6

EMIS (2012–PRESENT) 6

ABOUT THE REPORT 7

EDUCATION STATISTICS AT A GLANCE 8

A. SCHOOLS 9

B. STUDENTS 11

C. TEACHERS 14

D. SCHOOL STRUCTURES 18

APPENDIX 1: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 19

APPENDIX 2: PRIMARY 25

APPENDIX 3: HIGH SCHOOL (UPPER BASIC AND SECONDARY, GRADES 7–12) 31

APPENDIX 4: TECHNICAL/ VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 40

APPENDIX 5: ALTERNATIVE BASIC EDUCATION & ACCELERATED LEARNING PROGRAM 44

APPENDIX 6: ENROLLMENT TREND ANALYSIS 46

A. CONTEXT 46

B. DATA 46

C. ANALYSIS 47

A. CONCLUSION 51

APPENDIX 7: DATA COLLECTION PROCESS AND VERIFICATION 52

A. DATA COLLECTION PROCESS 52

B. VERIFICATION 53

APPENDIX 8: DATA-SHARING PROCESS 55

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS 56

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 57

MAP OF LIBERIA

INTRODUCTION

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

“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.”

CONTEXT

Liberia’s education system is still recovering from the civil war (1989–2003) and the recent Ebola epidemic (2014–

2015). During the civil war, there was limited development of education service systems and in many places accessing education was difficult. More recently, the Ebola epidemic led to a temporary decline in school level enrollment (see Appendix 6) and a closure of schools for a better part of the 2014–15 academic year. In the wake of those crises, and with a limited budget (of approximately US$40 million), the Ministry of Education is focused on its mandate: ‘to provide equal access to education opportunities and facilities to all citizens to the extent of available resources, regardless of age, disability, and gender’1.

Accurate assessments of the state of the education sector are vital for the Government to fulfil its mandate. Only with evidence can the government and other education stakeholders channel limited resources towards areas that warrant attention. Thus, an Annual School Census provides detailed information regarding enrollment, teachers and the state of all schools operating in the education system. Information is captured for Early Childhood

Education (ECE), Primary (Grade 1–Grade 6), High School (Grade 7–Grade 9 for Junior High School and Grade 9–

Grade 12 for Senior High School) and Technical and Vocational Education (TVET). The census also covers the alternative education enrollment in the Accelerated Learning Program and Alternative Basic Education (see

Appendix 5).

EMIS (2011–PRESENT)

In 2011–12, only public schools were covered under the Annual Census. In 2012 – 13 and 2013–14, public, private, mission and community schools were covered but responses from schools were limited and the team had to make projections to estimate the actual level of enrollment in the country. Moreover, in 2013–14, alternative education programs (Alternative Basic Education and Accelerated Learning Program) were added to the Census.

Unfortunately, with the closure of schools for the better part of the 2014-15 school year, we have no data for that year. In 2015-16, however, a second wave of data collection has ensured that we have complete coverage

(98.44%, with only 86 schools not responding to the forms sent to them). Moreover, a verification exercise conducted in July 2016 and additional error correction and verification protocols (see Section A of Appendix 7) have ensured that this year has one of the most accurate assessment of our education data to date. The Ministry hopes that this year will be able to set a baseline, so that we can undertake trend analyses in the future and measure our progress from year to year.

1 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, 1984

ABOUT THE REPORT

This year marks a substantial shift for the structure of the report and the Ministry’s education statistics dissemination strategy. Instead of providing tables and graphs that we deem noteworthy of attention in a comprehensive report, education statistics are provided to stakeholders and researchers through three complementary channels.

1. The report that follows provides key statistics in a concise and straight-forward way. We hope that a general audience would be able to engage with the material to get an understanding of the essential education statistics of Liberia. This brief report is followed by appendices that examine each sub-sector and provide district-level data for key information. In addition to regional level aggregations, data for schools, students and teachers are provided at the district level for early childhood education (Appendix

1), primary (Appendix 2) and high school education (Appendix 3). Moreover, we have undertaken an enrollment trend analysis by examining enrollment data from schools that were covered in all of the past four school censuses. Additional information on data collection, verification and the Ministry’s Data-

Sharing Process (Appendix 8) make up the final appendices of the report.

2. Though some of the tables and graphs that were part of past reports are not included in this report, all tables and graphs that were a part of previous iterations of this reports are available in an online appendix which is published on the Ministry’s website at www.moe.gov.lr.

3. Disaggregated data at the school level (in Microsoft Excel format) is similarly available on the Ministry’s website, at www.moe.gov.lr. The Ministry encourages stakeholders, partners and researchers to access the disaggregated data for further analysis and planning. We also hope that community members will be able to assess this data to verify the enrollment numbers and the number of teachers in their local schools.

EDUCATION STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

TABLE. SUMMARY OF KEY INDICATORS

ECE PRIMARY HIGH SCHOOL TVET

NUMBER % NUMBER % NUMBER % NUMBER %

Schools 5,080

5,178

1,845

Public 2,425 48% 2,494 48% 558 30% 13 20%

Private 1,555 31% 1,558 30% 780 42% 41 63%

Mission 793 16% 822 16% 425 23% 7 11%

Community 307 6% 304 6% 82 4% 4 6%

Students 539,660

655,049

272,832

11,871

Males 273,670 51% 334,536 51% 143,675 53% 6,324 53%

Females 265,990 49% 320,513 49% 129,157 47% 5,547 47%

Teachers 14,311

30,438

18,140

Males 6,166 43% 24,176 79% 16,436 91% 404 80%

Females 8,145 57% 6,262 21% 1,704 9% 103 20%

Trained 7,160 50% 19,191 63% 13,113 72% 369 73%

Untrained 7,151 50% 11,247 37% 5,027 28% 138 27%

Gross Enrollment Rate

116%

87%

47%

N/A

Net Enrollment Rate

29%

48%

26%

% Over-age

75%

82%

85%

Student Teacher Ratio 38

Student Classroom Ratio 47

Average Classroom Size 106

Median School Size 93

A. SCHOOLS

There are 5,438 schools in Liberia. Nearly half the schools (2,611) are public, followed by private (1,656), mission schools (851) and community schools (320). Mission schools are run by faith-based organizations, while community schools were established by communities during the civil wars and reconstruction period and continue to function as such, though they currently receive additional support from the government.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP)

A majority of the schools (55.52%) are in the three largest counties – Montserrado, Nimba and Bong.

TABLE. TOTAL NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP AND COUNTY)

COUNTY PUBLIC PRIVATE MISSION COMMUNITY TOTAL (%)

Montserrado 188 1,176 505 58 35.44%

Nimba 456 107 63 40 12.25%

Bong 265 77 51 33 7.83%

Lofa 290 14 35 14 6.49%

Margibi 110 129 48 63 6.44%

Grand Bassa 183 51 30 43 5.65%

Maryland 128 25 21 16 3.49%

Sinoe 169 11 7 1 3.46%

Public, 2611, 48%

Private, 1656, 30%

Mission, 851, 16%

Community, 320, 6%

SCHOOLS BY OWNERSHIP

Grand Gedeh 125 16 28 12 3.33%

Grand Cape Mount 131 13 12 18 3.20%

Bomi 115 22 14 7 2.91%

Grand Kru 128 1 11 2 2.61%

Gbarpolu 119 2 8 7 2.50%

River Cess 114 3 8 5 2.39%

River Gee 90 9 10 1 2.02%

Total 2,611 1,656 851 320 100.00%

Most schools operate across multiple levels – that is, a school may, for instance, offer early childhood education

(ECE), primary as well as junior high school. Therefore, adding the total number of schools by level will not give you the total number of schools in the country. Most schools offering primary education also offer ECE.

TABLE. TOTAL NUMBER OF SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY LEVEL AND COUNTY)

COUNTY ECE PRIMARY JHS SHS ALP/ABE

Montserrado 1,788 1,836 979 405 45

Nimba 619 625 193 56 34

Bong 419 419 118 29 28

Lofa 342 342 84 19 28

Margibi 323 336 134 39 11

Grand Bassa 293 298 47 11 10

Sinoe 184 187 42 8 1

Maryland 154 171 46 16 5

Grand Cape Mount 169 169 28 13 –

Grand Gedeh 156 163 43 16 6

Bomi 152 150 22 11 2

Gbarpolu 133 130 26 4 –

River Cess 127 124 16 4 –

Grand Kru 120 120 37 7 –

River Gee 101 108 17 2 –

Total 5,080 5,178 1,832 640 170

B. STUDENTS

There are 1.49 million students currently enrolled in the pre-tertiary levels. 80% of the students are studying at

ECE or Primary level. Almost half the students (49%) study in public schools.

TABLE. TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS (BY LEVEL AND OWNERSHIP)

Ownership ECE Primary JrHigh SrHigh ALP/ABE TVET Total

Public 281,938 337,376 68,957 32,678 8,400 4,478 733,827

Private 154,979 194,042 61,415 41,125 3,459 4,366 459,386

Mission 68,003 86,472 31,471 30,037 854 2,156 218,993

Community 34,740 37,159 5,114 2,035 287 871 80,206

Total 539,660 655,049 166,957 105,875 13,000 11,871 1,492,412

Geographically, the students are concentrated in the large counties. Nearly 40% of students study in Montserrado.

In fact, as can be seen below, Montserrado has more students than eleven other counties combined.

TABLE. NUMBER OF STUDENTS (BY LEVEL AND COUNTY)

County ECE Primary JrHigh SrHigh ALP/ABE TVET Total

Montserrado 169,360 250,267 90,602 66,850 4,325 5,455 586,859

Nimba 76,361 78,390 16,610 8,282 1,972 1,125 182,740

Bong 51,503 54,373 9,671 5,445 1,548 9 122,549

Margibi 36,382 47,056 13,193 7,976 1,463 3,433 109,503

Lofa 38,963 49,526 8,216 3,936 2,092 555 103,288

Grand Bassa 33,637 33,785 5,597 2,709 581 37 76,346

Maryland 17,377 24,286 5,250 3,415 482 – 50,810

Grand Cape Mount 20,873 19,568 2,426 773 – 151 43,791

Grand Gedeh 16,315 20,226 4,111 2,245 320 373 43,590

Bomi 18,133 16,235 3,165 1,616 157 214 39,520

Sinoe 15,468 15,941 2,444 1,176 60 208 35,297

Grand Kru 10,764 13,253 1,737 528 – – 26,282

Gbarpolu 13,742 10,362 1,249 277 – 77 25,707

River Cess 11,823 10,669 839 198 – 234 23,763

River Gee 8,959 11,112 1,847 449 – – 22,367

Total 539,660 655,049 166,957 105,875 13,000 11,871 1,492,412

In terms of access to education, gender disparity in education in Liberia is not acute. Of the total number of students, 763,728 students (51.17%) are males and 728,684 students (48.83%) are female.

TABLE. MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS (BY OWNERSHIP)

Ownership Male Female Total

Public 392,990 340,837 733,827

Private 223,619 235,767 459,386

Mission 106,707 112,286 218,993

Community 40,412 39,794 80,206

Total 763,728 728,684 1,492,412

In both private and mission schools, female enrollment exceeds male enrollment (with 51 females to every 49 males). Public schools show the sharpest gender divide in the other direction (54 males to 46 females).

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS (BY OWNERSHIP)

Generally, male enrollment is consistently higher for each level of education apart from alternative education programs where female students outnumber male students with 58 females to every 42 males.

54%

49% 49%

50% 51%

46%

51% 51%

50% 49%

42%

44%

46%

48%

50%

52%

54%

56%

Public Private Religious/Mission Community Total

Percentage of male and female students by ownership

Male Female

FIGURE. MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS (BY LEVEL)

Currently, data on students with disabilities is relatively poor with data being captured only for children who are visually challenged or deaf. The questions in the Annual School Census regarding students with disabilities have recently been updated and we hope to capture better information in the next iteration of the Annual School

Census (EMIS 2016 – 17).

273,670

334,536

143,677

6,324 5,521265,990 320,513 129,155 5,547 7,479

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

ECE Primary Secondary TVET ABE/ALP

Male and Female Students by Level

Male Females

C. TEACHERS

The Annual School Census suggests that there are 55,243 teachers in Liberia. However, the Ministry of Education is currently undertaking a massive payroll cleaning exercise and removing all ‘ghost teachers’ from the payroll.

Thus, the numbers may be revised downwards in the next iteration of the Annual School Census.

Private schools have the highest share of teachers at 39%.

TABLE. TOTAL NUMBER OF TEACHERS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP)

SCHOOL TEACHERS %

Private 21,710 39%

Public 19,503 35%

Mission 11,245 20%

Community 2,785 5%

TOTAL 55,243 100%

Teaching is a male-dominated profession with nearly three-fourth male teachers.

TABLE. PERCENTAGE OF TEACHERS BY GENDER

63.10% of teachers in the system are qualified to teach. They either have a Pre Service Certificate, an in-service certificate, an AA certificate, BSc education or higher or TVET certification from an accredited institution.

Female, 14600, 26%

Male, 40646, 74%

% OF TEACHERS BY GENDER

FIGURE. QUALIFIED AND UNQUALIFIED TEACHERS (BY OWNERSHIP)

A majority of the teachers are in Montserrado, Nimba and Bong. Adding across levels does not add up to the total number of teachers in the county as quite a few teachers teach multiple levels (teaching at both ECE and primary level, for example).

TABLE. TOTAL NUMBER OF TEACHERS IN LIBERIA (BY LEVEL AND COUNTY)

COUNTY ECE PRIMARY JHS SHS ALP/ABE

Bomi 353 564 151 106 5

Bong 1,082 2,230 786 314 80

Gbarpolu 250 438 135 29 -

Grand Bassa 633 1,174 315 99 41

Grand Cape Mount 352 635 149 75 -

Grand Gedeh 398 877 280 142 12

Grand Kru 323 585 200 44 -

Lofa 743 1,854 576 228 99

Margibi 1,001 2,071 978 518 71

Maryland 472 1,000 299 178 12

Montserrado 6,371 13,795 7,411 4,224 215

Nimba 1,412 3,452 1,313 499 123

River Cess 241 436 81 16 -

13223 13007

10000

12000

14000

Private Public Mission Community

Qualified and Unqualified Teachers by ownership

Qualified Teachers Unquaified Teachers

River Gee 282 549 96 14 -

Sinoe 398 778 213 63 3

Total 14,311 30,438 12,983 6,549 661

With the largest number of teachers teaching in Montserrado, they have the lowest student teacher ratio at 21.1.

Grand Cape Mount has the highest student teacher ratio at 40.6 students per teacher. The average student teacher ratio in the country is 27:1.

FIGURE. STUDENT TEACHER RATIO (STR) (BY COUNTY)

In terms of the ratio of qualified teachers to enrolled students, once again Montserrado outperforms every other county. Relatively disadvantaged counties have higher ratios; this may be partly explained by teachers preferring to live in major urban areas.

21.1

26.4

29.1

30.1 30.7 30.7

32.3 32.8 33.7

35.5

37.7

38.8 39.2 39.4

40.6

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

STUDENT TEACHER RATIO BY COUNTY

FIGURE. STUDENT QUALIFIED TEACHER RATIO (SQTR) (BY COUNTY)

33.8 37.8

43.4 44.2

51.4

57.2 58.9

64.8 67.2

69.6 69.6 70.4 74.1

87.7 90.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

STUDENT QUALIFIED TEACHER RATIO BY COUNTY

D. SCHOOL STRUCTURES

Overall, only about 42% of schools in the country are built with cement blocks. More than half the schools in the country are operating either through mud structures or are operating through a makeshift or open location.

Private schools are more likely to have cement structures. There are also geographical disparities - only 10% of schools in Grand Kru have cement structures while 68% of schools in Montserrado are built from cement. In fact, there are more schools built from cement in Montserrado than the rest of the cement school structures in all the other counties combined.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOL STRUCTURES THAT ARE SOLID (BY COUNTY)

Nearly 80% of schools have access to water and nearly half the schools have access to functioning toilets. Crucially though, only one in every five schools are made of cement, have access to water and functioning toilets.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS WITH SOLID STRUCTURES, WATER SUPPLY AND FUNCTIONING TOILETS Number Percentage

Solid structures for schools 2,251 41.47%

Access to Water 4,303 79.13%

Functioning toilets 2,618 48.14%

Solid structure schools, access to water and functioning toilets 1,168 21.48%

10% 15% 17% 17% 17%

24% 26% 28% 29% 29% 30%

33%

41% 43%

68%

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

75%

SOLID STRUCTURE SCHOOLS BY COUNTY

APPENDIX 1: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

There are slightly more than half a million ECE students (539,660) studying across 5,080 schools in Liberia with

14,311 teachers teaching at this level. The mean number of students per school is 106 while the median number of students is a slightly lower 93 which means that the average ECE school size is relatively small with a few comparatively larger outliers.

Like most levels of education, most of the students’ study in the three large counties – Montserrado, Nimba and

Bong with nearly 19% students studying in these regions Also, most of the students studying at this level are over-age (6 years or above). ECE is the only level with more female teachers in comparison to male teachers. However, that statistic is only true due to the dominance of Montserrado’s female ECE teachers. For the rest of the fourteen counties, male teachers exceed female teachers. Key statistics follow below.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF ECE SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP)

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN ECE SCHOOLS (BY OWNERSHIP AND GENDER)

Ownership Total Male

Female

Count % total Count % total

Public 281,938 148,014 54% 133,924 50%

Private 154,979 75,010 27% 79,969 30%

Mission 68,003 33,195 12% 34,808 13%

PUBLIC, 2,425 ,

48%

PRIVATE, 1,555 ,

30%

MISSION, 793 ,

16%

COMMUNITY, 307

, 6%

ECE SCHOOLS BY OWNERSHIP

Community 34,740 17,451 6% 17,289 6%

Total 539,660 273,670 100% 265,990 100%

TABLE. NUMBER AND % OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION TEACHERS (BY OWNERSHIP AND GENDER)

Public 5,308 3,409 64% 1,899 36%

Private 5,688 1,615 28% 4,073 72%

Mission 2,479 746 30% 1,733 70%

Community 836 396 47% 440 53%

Total 14,311 6,166 43% 8,145 57%

The Gross Enrollment Rate for ECE schools is 116.4% (with population aged between 3 – 5 years of 463,790, ECE schools have an enrollment of 539,660). A GER higher than 100% indicates that the enrolled children at this level are higher than the estimated 3 – 5-year-old population).

FIGURE. ECE GROSS ENROLLMENT RATE BY COUNTY

Net Enrollment Rate is 29.4%. 47% of 3 – 5 year olds within Montserrado are enrolled in ECE schools (compared to River Cess and River Gee where only 11% and 16% respectively of 3 – 5 year olds are in ECE schools.

139% 135%

128% 127% 122% 121%

118% 115%

107% 105% 102% 100%

96% 95% 92%

90%

100%

110%

120%

130%

140%

150%

ECE GROSS ENROLLMENT RATE (GER) BY COUNTY

FIGURE. ECE NET ENROLLMENT RATE BY COUNTY

74.7% of the students studying at this level are over-age.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF OVER AGE ECE STUDENTS

Districts of Montserrado (notably Paynesville) overshadow other districts in terms of schools, enrollment and teacher numbers. Disaggregated district level data is provided below.

47%

39% 38%

32% 29% 28% 27%

24% 21% 21% 19% 17% 17% 16%

11%

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

ECE NET ENROLLMENT RATE (NER) BY COUNTY

88% 87% 84% 83% 83% 83% 81%

79%

74% 74% 73% 72% 70% 69% 65%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

PERCENTAGE OF ECE OVER-AGE STUDENTS BY

COUNTY

TABLE. ECE SCHOOLS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DISAGGREGATED AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL

DISTRICT COUNTY SCHOOLS STUDENTS TEACHERS

Paynesville Montserrado 432 40,031 1,517

Greater Monrovia 2 Montserrado 275 30,643 1,054

Left Bank 1 Montserrado 276 28,159 1,085

Greater Monrovia 1 Montserrado 349 27,375 1,326

Marshall Margibi 162 17,075 532

Left Bank 2 Montserrado 178 16,193 569

Kakata Margibi 122 14,046 372

District 5 Grand Bassa 85 10,966 253

Gbarnga Bong 87 10,220 272

Kolahun Lofa 93 10,061 168

Bain-Garr Nimba 89 10,027 278

Voinjama Lofa 82 9,568 176

Saclepea 1 Nimba 66 9,465 149

District 3 Grand Bassa 80 9,039 157

Tchien Grand Gedeh 77 8,958 229

Right Bank 1 Montserrado 88 8,848 290

Foya Lofa 79 8,748 186

Suacoco Bong 64 8,485 199

Tappita 1 Nimba 65 8,024 144

Right Bank 2 Montserrado 82 7,921 264

Sanniquelleh-Mah Nimba 59 7,862 165

Buu-yao Nimba 58 7,161 113

Kokoyah Bong 54 7,046 128

Senjeh Bomi 45 6,842 152

Panta-Kpaai Bong 45 6,727 111

Zoe-Geh Nimba 59 6,607 121

Todee Montserrado 60 6,156 137

District 2 Grand Bassa 57 6,082 86

Zorzor Lofa 54 6,011 132

Klay Bomi 54 5,876 95

Saclepea 2 Nimba 46 5,841 96

Zota Bong 40 5,438 94

Garwula Grand Cape Mount 37 5,373 89

Gbehlay-geh Nimba 44 5,302 87

Tewor Grand Cape Mount 43 5,298 88

Sanoyea Bong 48 5,282 84

Gibi Margibi 39 5,261 97

Salala Bong 46 5,100 116

Tuah River Nimba 47 5,022 92

Gola Konneh Grand Cape Mount 41 4,959 83

District 1 Grand Bassa 42 4,930 86

Tappita 2 Nimba 32 4,655 72

Pleebo Maryland 31 4,442 105

Yarwin-Mensonoh Nimba 33 4,341 58

Gbarzon Grand Gedeh 38 4,102 83

Monweh River Cess 39 3,997 69

Careysburg Montserrado 46 3,933 123

Bopolu Gbarpolu 34 3,678 80

Salayea Lofa 21 3,566 56

Porkpa Grand Cape Mount 33 3,352 52

Fuamah Bong 35 3,205 78

Timbo River Cess 30 3,099 65

Dewoin Bomi 27 3,074 54

Trehn Grand Kru 25 2,690 60

Guo Nwala Gbarpolu 20 2,685 34

Sodoken Maryland 22 2,650 62

Gbarma Gbarpolu 29 2,640 50

District 4 Grand Bassa 29 2,620 50

Central Rivercess 1 River Cess 25 2,513 42

Lower Kpanyan Sinoe 25 2,449 48

Harper 2 Maryland 16 2,402 53

Harper 1 Maryland 23 2,382 71

Suehn-Mecca Bomi 26 2,341 52

Jaedae Sinoe 25 2,277 45

Webbo River Gee 22 2,153 65

Potupo River Gee 24 2,135 65

Yarpea-Mah Nimba 21 2,054 38

Greenville Sinoe 17 1,960 65

Juarzon Sinoe 26 1,939 46

Central Kpanyan Sinoe 24 1,933 57

Tallah/Tombey Grand Cape Mount 15 1,891 40

Karluway 2 Maryland 22 1,847 44

Bokomu Gbarpolu 17 1,718 30

Konobo Grand Gedeh 25 1,684 46

Barclayville Grand Kru 24 1,665 81

Gbaepo River Gee 14 1,605 48

Putu Grand Gedeh 16 1,571 40

Tarjuwon Sinoe 17 1,544 40

Belle Gbarpolu 17 1,529 29

Kongba Gbarpolu 16 1,492 27

Buah Grand Kru 15 1,418 39

Upper Kpanyan Sinoe 23 1,406 45

Yarnee River Cess 20 1,392 40

Wedabo Grand Kru 17 1,334 43

Chedepo River Gee 14 1,286 43

Barrobo II- Nyonken Maryland 10 1,255 41

Karluway 1 Maryland 13 1,212 42

Barrobo I- Dougbe Maryland 17 1,187 54

Vahun Lofa 13 1,009 25

Tiempo River Gee 16 1,009 41

Sankwen Sinoe 15 990 23

Butaw Sinoe 12 970 29

Jloh Grand Kru 12 963 26

Dorboh Grand Kru 13 937 27

Sass Town Grand Kru 8 924 22

Grand Cess Grand Kru 6 833 25

Central Rivercess 2 River Cess 13 822 25

Sarbo River Gee 11 771 20

MCSS Montserrado 2 101 3

Total 5,080 539,660 14,311

APPENDIX 2: PRIMARY

Primary schools have an enrollment of 655,049 students studying across 5,178 schools with 30,438 teachers. The mean number of students per school is 127 students per school while the median number is 95. Thus, half the primary schools in Liberia have fewer than 95 students in their schools.

Like most levels of education, most of the students study in the three large counties – Montserrado, Nimba and

Bong with nearly 59% students studying in these regions. Key statistics follow below.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP)

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS (BY OWNERSHIP)

Public 337,376 181,137 54% 156,239 49%

Private 194,042 93,382 65% 100,660 31%

Mission 86,472 41,594 29% 44,878 14%

Community 37,159 18,423 13% 18,736 6%

Total 655,049 334,536 233% 320,513 100%

PUBLIC, 2,494 ,

48%

PRIVATE, 1,558 ,

30%

MISSION, 822 ,

16%

COMMUNITY, 304

, 6%

PRIMARY SCHOOLS BY OWNERSHIP

TABLE. NUMBER AND % OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS BY OWNERSHIP AND GENDER

Public 12,215 10,447 86% 1,768 14%

Private 10,808 7,944 74% 2,864 26%

Mission 5,676 4,371 77% 1,305 23%

Community 1,739 1,414 81% 325 19%

Total 30,438 24,176 79% 6,262 21%

FIGURE. PRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO (GER) BY COUNTY

There are wide variations in Net Enrollment Rate. 67% of Montserrado’s primary students are within the 6 to 11-year age bracket as compared to only 23% of River Gee’s students.

109% 101%

95% 88%

80% 78% 77% 77% 73% 72% 70% 67% 66% 64%

53%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

110%

120%

PRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMNET RATE (GER) BY

FIGURE. PRIMARY NET ENROLLMENT RATIO (NER) BY COUNTY

The Ministry considers ages 6 to 11 to be the ideal ages for Grade 1 to Grade 6 respectively. For example, if a 7-year-old child is in Grade 1, she is considered ‘over-age.’ Over-age enrollment is a significant challenge with 82.1% of the children enrolled being over the age for that level.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF OVER AGE STUDENTS

67%

52% 50% 49% 48%

43% 40% 39% 38% 37%

34% 30% 28% 27%

23%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

PRIMARY NET ENROLLMENT RATIO (NER) BY COUNTY

98%

92% 91% 91% 91% 88% 87% 86% 86% 86% 86% 85%

81%

76% 76%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

PERCENTAGE OF PRIMARY OVER-AGE STUDENTS BY

Once again, districts of Montserrado overshadow other districts in terms of schools, enrollment and teacher numbers. Paynesville, Left Bank 1, Greater Monrovia 1 and Greater Monrovia 2 (which were also the leading districts for ECE enrollment) have 28% of all primary students. In other words, more than one in four primary student studies in one of these four districts. Disaggregated district level data is provided below.

TABLE. PRIMARY SCHOOLS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DISAGGREGATED AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL

Paynesville Montserrado 444 56,647 3,520

Left Bank 1 Montserrado 281 44,201 2,277

Greater Monrovia 1 Montserrado 362 42,467 2,485

Greater Monrovia 2 Montserrado 275 40,138 2,145

Marshall Margibi 167 24,500 1,064

Left Bank 2 Montserrado 180 21,189 1,218

Kakata Margibi 130 18,592 830

Kolahun Lofa 93 15,377 519

Gbarnga Bong 89 13,507 614

District 5 Grand Bassa 89 13,420 555

Bain-Garr Nimba 94 13,017 613

Right Bank 1 Montserrado 90 13,005 649

MCSS Montserrado 14 11,362 362

Tchien Grand Gedeh 82 11,296 525

Foya Lofa 79 11,253 428

Right Bank 2 Montserrado 87 10,320 553

Saclepea 1 Nimba 66 9,357 364

Voinjama Lofa 82 9,081 403

Sanniquelleh-Mah Nimba 62 8,692 409

District 3 Grand Bassa 80 8,657 267

Suacoco Bong 65 8,364 403

Zorzor Lofa 54 8,089 326

Kokoyah Bong 54 8,081 226

Zoe-Geh Nimba 58 7,256 312

Tappita 1 Nimba 64 7,107 301

Buu-yao Nimba 57 7,041 257

Panta-Kpaai Bong 45 7,020 265

Senjeh Bomi 44 6,897 198

Todee Montserrado 58 6,220 281

Pleebo Maryland 31 6,181 206

Tuah River Nimba 47 5,675 262

Gbehlay-geh Nimba 47 5,586 302

Tewor Grand Cape Mount 44 5,455 170

Tappita 2 Nimba 32 5,374 169

Zota Bong 40 5,270 210

Garwula Grand Cape Mount 37 5,149 167

Gbarzon Grand Gedeh 36 4,774 182

Klay Bomi 54 4,755 177

Salala Bong 44 4,745 236

Careysburg Montserrado 45 4,718 293

District 1 Grand Bassa 42 4,653 112

Harper 2 Maryland 24 4,530 166

District 2 Grand Bassa 58 4,522 134

Gola Konneh Grand Cape Mount 41 4,393 132

Sanoyea Bong 47 4,306 149

Saclepea 2 Nimba 45 4,119 220

Sodoken Maryland 22 4,054 162

Gibi Margibi 39 3,964 176

Salayea Lofa 20 3,664 133

Harper 1 Maryland 27 3,365 158

Yarwin-Mensonoh Nimba 32 3,344 158

Greenville Sinoe 19 3,253 153

Timbo River Cess 29 3,240 119

Potupo River Gee 26 3,186 130

Porkpa Grand Cape Mount 33 3,088 103

Fuamah Bong 35 3,080 126

Jaedae Sinoe 25 3,022 76

Bopolu Gbarpolu 34 2,963 155

Trehn Grand Kru 27 2,858 156

Monweh River Cess 37 2,853 112

District 4 Grand Bassa 29 2,533 106

Dewoin Bomi 27 2,505 118

Gbaepo River Gee 16 2,299 104

Central Rivercess 1 River Cess 25 2,272 93

Webbo River Gee 25 2,206 110

Guo Nwala Gbarpolu 20 2,112 56

Konobo Grand Gedeh 25 2,109 87

Barclayville Grand Kru 22 2,109 105

Wedabo Grand Kru 19 2,092 77

Suehn-Mecca Bomi 25 2,078 71

Vahun Lofa 14 2,062 44

Karluway 2 Maryland 22 2,054 70

Putu Grand Gedeh 20 2,047 83

Juarzon Sinoe 26 1,903 85

Gbarma Gbarpolu 27 1,834 80

Yarpea-Mah Nimba 21 1,822 85

Dorboh Grand Kru 11 1,714 40

Central Kpanyan Sinoe 24 1,642 85

Lower Kpanyan Sinoe 25 1,557 86

Barrobo II- Nyonken Maryland 11 1,551 67

Belle Gbarpolu 17 1,494 68

Tallah/Tombey Grand Cape Mount 14 1,483 63

Upper Kpanyan Sinoe 23 1,470 120

Yarnee River Cess 20 1,382 73

Chedepo River Gee 14 1,365 103

Kongba Gbarpolu 16 1,310 40

Karluway 1 Maryland 15 1,304 88

Barrobo I- Dougbe Maryland 19 1,247 83

Jloh Grand Kru 11 1,156 37

Tarjuwon Sinoe 18 1,152 80

Sarbo River Gee 11 1,129 46

Buah Grand Kru 16 1,128 76

Grand Cess Grand Kru 7 1,121 58

Sass Town Grand Kru 7 1,075 36

Sankwen Sinoe 15 1,024 44

Tiempo River Gee 16 927 56

Central Rivercess 2 River Cess 13 922 39

Butaw Sinoe 12 918 49

Bokomu Gbarpolu 16 649 39

Total 5,178 655,049 30,438

APPENDIX 3: HIGH SCHOOL (UPPER BASIC AND SECONDARY, GRADES 7–12)

There are 1,845 Junior and Senior High Schools (Grade 7 to Grade 12). Grade 7 to Grade 9 makes up Junior High, or Upper Basic School and Grade 10 to Grade 12 makes up Senior High or Secondary School. There are more private schools than public schools at the high school level but the public schools are larger and so enrollment is equally divided between public schools and private schools. On average, there are 146 students to a school and the median school size is 65.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF HIGH SCHOOLS IN LIBERIA (BY OWNERSHIP)

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN HIGH SCHOOL (BY OWNERSHIP)

Public 101,671 57,562 40% 44109 34%

Private 102,540 51,701 36% 50839 39%

Mission 61,472 30,567 21% 30905 24%

Community 7,149 3,847 3% 3302 3%

Total 272,832 143,677 100% 129,155 100%

PUBLIC, 558 , 30%

PRIVATE, 780 ,

42%

MISSION, 425 ,

23%

COMMUNITY, 82 ,

5%

HIGH SCHOOLS BY OWNERSHIP

TABLE. NUMBER AND % OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (BY OWNERSHIP AND GENDER)

Public 5,215 4,828 93% 387 7%

Private 7,723 6,894 89% 829 11%

Mission 4,620 4,191 91% 429 9%

Community 582 523 90% 59 10%

Total 18,140 16,436 91% 1,704 9%

FIGURE. HIGH SCHOOL GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO (GER) BY COUNTY

Only one in every four students is in the 12 – 17 age bracket. NER is 26.1%. 20% of the students are 20-year-old or higher.

76%

63%

43%

33% 32% 31% 29% 28% 26% 23% 22% 19%

16% 11% 9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

HIGH SCHOOL GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO (GER) BY

FIGURE. HIGH SCHOOL NET ENROLLMENT RATIO (NER) BY COUNTY

Students are overwhelmingly older than the age at which they should be enrolled at that level. Overall, 85.2% of the students are over-age.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THAT ARE OVER-AGE

47%

31%

22%

17% 14% 13% 13% 13% 13% 11% 10% 8% 8%

6% 5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

HIGH SCHOOL NET ENROLLMENT RATIO (NER) BY

COUNTY

96% 96%

94% 94% 94% 93% 92% 92% 92%

91% 90% 89%

88%

86%

81%

80%

82%

84%

86%

88%

90%

92%

94%

96%

98%

PERCENTAGE OF HIGH SCHOOL OVER-AGE STUDENTS

BY COUNTY

Tiempo, in River Cess, has no reported public or private high schools and education terminates at basic education there. Moreover, once again, we see a concentration of schools in Montserrado. More than 40% of the upper basic schools are in Paynesville, Left Bank 1, Greater Monrovia 1 and Greater Monrovia 2.

TABLE. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DISAGGREGATED AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL

Paynesville Montserrado 270 22,380 2,175

Left Bank 1 Montserrado 150 17,712 1,178

Greater Monrovia 1 Montserrado 209 16,618 1,479

Greater Monrovia 2 Montserrado 136 14,108 1,070

Marshall Margibi 75 7,492 511

Left Bank 2 Montserrado 93 6,474 619

Kakata Margibi 53 5,195 428

Right Bank 1 Montserrado 50 4,708 358

Bain-Garr Nimba 41 4,271 293

Gbarnga Bong 36 4,251 319

District 5 Grand Bassa 26 3,859 215

Right Bank 2 Montserrado 38 3,371 272

MCSS Montserrado 4 3,293 96

Tchien Grand Gedeh 25 2,974 175

Sanniquelleh-Mah Nimba 22 2,644 150

Kolahun Lofa 25 2,497 149

Senjeh Bomi 12 2,276 102

Saclepea 1 Nimba 22 2,213 160

Voinjama Lofa 19 2,157 146

Suacoco Bong 26 1,755 158

Sodoken Maryland 4 1,509 63

Zorzor Lofa 19 1,492 122

Tappita 1 Nimba 20 1,475 126

Harper 2 Maryland 9 1,403 56

Gbehlay-geh Nimba 15 1,382 132

District 3 Grand Bassa 10 1,353 51

Greenville Sinoe 10 1,339 71

Foya Lofa 11 1,278 87

Zoe-Geh Nimba 16 1,252 96

Pleebo Maryland 8 1,208 65

Salala Bong 14 1,131 88

Careysburg Montserrado 15 1,111 76

Panta-Kpaai Bong 15 1,035 73

Garwula Grand Cape Mount 11 965 49

Buu-yao Nimba 16 856 89

Tuah River Nimba 12 830 90

Todee Montserrado 14 827 89

Harper 1 Maryland 11 776 60

Saclepea 2 Nimba 10 686 62

Potupo River Gee 4 668 8

Salayea Lofa 9 666 67

Tewor Grand Cape Mount 6 656 38

Gbaepo River Gee 5 628 27

Gbarzon Grand Gedeh 11 613 63

Tappita 2 Nimba 10 532 57

Klay Bomi 5 520 24

Gibi Margibi 6 506 38

Bopolu Gbarpolu 8 503 42

Zota Bong 9 498 47

Barclayville Grand Kru 8 493 50

Trehn Grand Kru 12 432 59

Timbo River Cess 6 408 37

Kokoyah Bong 9 394 44

Fuamah Bong 6 381 34

Gbarma Gbarpolu 7 352 36

Porkpa Grand Cape Mount 4 310 29

Putu Grand Gedeh 4 296 30

Jaedae Sinoe 6 277 26

Tallah/Tombey Grand Cape Mount 4 275 19

Yarwin-Mensonoh Nimba 5 251 31

Grand Cess Grand Kru 3 245 22

Belle Gbarpolu 5 232 34

Webbo River Gee 3 232 15

Konobo Grand Gedeh 3 228 12

Sanoyea Bong 3 226 23

Gola Konneh Grand Cape Mount 3 220 14

Yarpea-Mah Nimba 4 218 26

Chedepo River Gee 3 217 39

Dewoin Bomi 3 216 20

District 1 Grand Bassa 4 205 19

Juarzon Sinoe 3 198 8

Central Rivercess 1 River Cess 3 196 18

Tarjuwon Sinoe 6 193 32

Wedabo Grand Kru 5 182 21

Monweh River Cess 4 172 13

Suehn-Mecca Bomi 2 153 5

Upper Kpanyan Sinoe 4 140 20

Vahun Lofa 1 126 5

Buah Grand Kru 3 124 14

Central Kpanyan Sinoe 6 119 26

District 2 Grand Bassa 4 110 22

Barrobo I- Dougbe Maryland 3 102 16

Barrobo II- Nyonken Maryland 3 102 18

Sarbo River Gee 2 102 7

Dorboh Grand Kru 1 92 5

Sass Town Grand Kru 2 90 12

Karluway 2 Maryland 6 86 11

Butaw Sinoe 2 79 12

Jloh Grand Kru 3 79 17

Kongba Gbarpolu 2 75 6

District 4 Grand Bassa 3 70 8

Karluway 1 Maryland 2 64 10

Lower Kpanyan Sinoe 4 63 14

Guo Nwala Gbarpolu 2 60 8

Yarnee River Cess 2 47 10

Sankwen Sinoe 1 36 4

Bokomu Gbarpolu 2 27 9

Central Rivercess 2 River Cess 1 16 3

Tiempo River Gee – – –

Total 1,832 166,957 12,983

Twenty-four districts have no access to senior secondary schools and almost all schools are concentrated in

Montserrado. In fact, four districts of Montserrado have more than half the secondary schools in the country.

TABLE. SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DISAGGREGATED AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL

Paynesville Montserrado 120 17,581 1,207

Greater Monrovia 1 Montserrado 92 13,367 940

Left Bank 1 Montserrado 54 12,847 613

Greater Monrovia 2 Montserrado 60 11,436 681

Marshall Margibi 24 4,410 259

Kakata Margibi 14 3,484 252

Gbarnga Bong 9 3,368 149

Right Bank 1 Montserrado 23 3,168 204

Left Bank 2 Montserrado 32 3,152 287

Bain-Garr Nimba 15 3,111 166

MCSS Montserrado 3 2,929 112

District 5 Grand Bassa 8 2,054 79

Tchien Grand Gedeh 12 2,048 111

Right Bank 2 Montserrado 12 1,800 117

Sanniquelleh-Mah Nimba 9 1,673 90

Saclepea 1 Nimba 9 1,382 73

Senjeh Bomi 7 1,379 87

Pleebo Maryland 5 1,216 59

Voinjama Lofa 4 1,096 45

Harper 1 Maryland 6 1,081 67

Greenville Sinoe 5 1,030 42

Kolahun Lofa 4 1,026 47

Zorzor Lofa 5 959 59

Suacoco Bong 6 891 58

Tappita 1 Nimba 5 761 34

Salala Bong 8 745 59

Sodoken Maryland 2 677 24

District 3 Grand Bassa 2 647 19

Gbehlay-geh Nimba 5 589 45

Foya Lofa 3 494 51

Careysburg Montserrado 5 395 39

Zoe-Geh Nimba 2 344 20

Barclayville Grand Kru 2 323 14

Tewor Grand Cape Mount 4 306 28

Potupo River Gee 1 240 8

Karluway 1 Maryland 1 232 6

Salayea Lofa 2 226 15

Gbaepo River Gee 1 209 6

Fuamah Bong 2 192 18

Harper 2 Maryland 1 189 19

Tallah/Tombey Grand Cape Mount 3 176 17

Todee Montserrado 4 175 27

Klay Bomi 2 172 6

Garwula Grand Cape Mount 3 169 13

Panta-Kpaai Bong 3 156 25

Vahun Lofa 1 135 11

Bopolu Gbarpolu 1 133 13

Timbo River Cess 2 132 10

Gbarma Gbarpolu 2 128 10

Gbarzon Grand Gedeh 2 124 18

Juarzon Sinoe 2 121 15

Saclepea 2 Nimba 5 114 27

Buu-yao Nimba 2 111 14

Zota Bong 1 93 5

Dorboh Grand Kru 1 92 4

Tuah River Nimba 2 89 15

Gibi Margibi 1 82 7

Porkpa Grand Cape Mount 2 75 12

Tappita 2 Nimba 1 71 8

Monweh River Cess 1 50 2

Suehn-Mecca Bomi 1 49 8

Grand Cess Grand Kru 1 48 5

Gola Konneh Grand Cape Mount 1 47 5

Sass Town Grand Kru 1 44 10

Putu Grand Gedeh 1 40 4

Yarwin-Mensonoh Nimba 1 37 6

Konobo Grand Gedeh 1 33 9

Tarjuwon Sinoe 1 25 6

Barrobo I- Dougbe Maryland 1 20 3

Belle Gbarpolu 1 16 6

Central Rivercess 1 River Cess 1 16 4

Dewoin Bomi 1 16 5

Trehn Grand Kru 1 11 5

Buah Grand Kru 1 10 6

District 2 Grand Bassa 1 8 1

Barrobo II- Nyonken Maryland – – –

Bokomu Gbarpolu – – –

Butaw Sinoe – – –

Central Kpanyan Sinoe – – –

Central Rivercess 2 River Cess – – –

Chedepo River Gee – – –

District 1 Grand Bassa – – –

District 4 Grand Bassa – – –

Guo Nwala Gbarpolu – – –

Jaedae Sinoe – – –

Jloh Grand Kru – – –

Karluway 2 Maryland – – –

Kokoyah Bong – – –

Kongba Gbarpolu – – –

Lower Kpanyan Sinoe – – –

Sankwen Sinoe – – –

Sanoyea Bong – – –

Sarbo River Gee – – –

Tiempo River Gee – – –

Upper Kpanyan Sinoe – – –

Webbo River Gee – – –

Wedabo Grand Kru – – –

Yarnee River Cess – – –

Yarpea-Mah Nimba – – –

Total 640 105,875 6,549

APPENDIX 4: TECHNICAL/ VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

For the 2015 – 16 Annual School Census, 65 institutions offering TVET education (with an enrollment of 11,871 students) returned their completed forms. Discussions with the TVET unit suggest that at least three relatively large institutions offering only technical and vocational education may not have submitted their completed forms.

A few TVET institutions falling under the purview of the Ministry of Youth and Sports may not have returned their census forms. These factors coupled with the fact that a comparison of TVET enrollment numbers from institutions present in both EMIS and the TVET unit lists led to limited congruence suggests that the EMIS numbers for TVET institutions must be treated with caution.

With the caveat that we are analyzing data for reported institutions in mind, the data that we have suggests that a majority of reporting TVET institutions are private.

FIGURE. TVET SCHOOLS BY OWNERSHIP

Even though private schools offering TVET education may be more numerous, public TVET schools are larger in size and so, enrollment in TVET institutions is evenly divided between public and private institutions followed by

Mission and then Community schools.

Private, 41, 63%

Public, 13, 20%

Mission, 7, 11%

Community, 4, 6%

% of TVET schools by ownership

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN TVET INSTITUTIONS (BY OWNERSHIP)

Public 4478 2922 65.25% 1556 34.75%

Private 4366 1877 42.99% 2489 57.01%

Mission 2156 987 45.78% 1169 54.22%

Community 871 538 61.77% 333 38.23%

Total 11871 6324 53.27% 5547 46.73%

Geographically, 43% of all schools offering TVET are in Montserrado. Three counties (Maryland, River Gee and

Grand Kru) have no TVET institutions at all.

TABLE. TVET SCHOOLS BY COUNTY

County TVET Institutions %

Montserrado 28 43%

Nimba 15 23%

Margibi 8 12%

Lofa 4 6%

Grand Gedeh 2 3%

River Cess 2 3%

Bomi 1 2%

Bong 1 2%

Gbarpolu 1 2%

Grand Bassa 1 2%

Grand Cape Mount 1 2%

Sinoe 1 2%

Total 65 100%

Students are concentrated in Montserrado, Margibi and Nimba with 84.34% of the students studying in these counties.

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN TVET INSTITUTIONS (BY GENDER AND COUNTY)

County Total Male

Montserrado 5455 2601 48% 2854 52%

Margibi 3433 2147 63% 1286 37%

Nimba 1125 533 47% 592 53%

Lofa 555 318 57% 237 43%

Grand Gedeh 373 231 62% 142 38%

River Cess 234 0 0% 234 100%

Bomi 214 168 79% 46 21%

Sinoe 208 128 62% 80 38%

Grand Cape Mount 151 93 62% 58 38%

Gbarpolu 77 76 99% 1 1%

Grand Bassa 37 23 62% 14 38%

Bong 9 6 67% 3 33%

Total 11871 6324 53% 5547 47%

Computer Science is the concentration of interest in TVET institutions with nearly 30% of candidates choosing it as their primary specialization.

Within the data available, specialization shows significant variation by gender. For example, for institutions that participated in the Census, ‘Electricity,’ ‘Auto Mechanic,’ ‘Building’ and ‘Carpentry’ are male-dominated with more than 80% of the enrolled students recoded as male. On the other hand, the categories of ‘Pastry,’ ‘Home Arts,’ and ‘Tailoring’ are female-dominated.

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN TVET INSTITUTIONS (BY AREA OF SPECIALIZATION)

Specialization Total Male

Computer Science 3,464 1,782 51% 1,682 49%

Agriculture 954 633 66% 321 34%

Other 935 335 36% 600 64%

Home Arts 730 83 11% 647 89%

Auto-Mechanic 680 564 83% 116 17%

Accounting 591 317 54% 167 28%

Electricity 577 510 88% 67 12%

Plumbing 575 404 70% 171 30%

Business Education 571 240 42% 331 58%

Building Trades 528 422 80% 106 20%

Tailoring 502 108 22% 394 78%

Electronics/ICT 425 366 86% 59 14%

Pastry 276 31 11% 245 89%

Type & Dye 225 92 41% 133 59%

Architectural Drafting 217 178 82% 39 18%

Wood-Work 145 23 16% 122 84%

Carpentry 142 113 80% 29 20%

Soap-Making 139 41 29% 98 71%

Hospitality Science 73 22 30% 51 70%

Metal Work 65 48 74% 17 26%

Interior Decoration 57 12 21% 45 79%

Total 11,871 6,324 53% 5,440 46%

80% of the teachers are male. In line with enrollment, 78.3% of teachers are based in Monstserrado, Margibi or

Nimba.

TABLE. NUMBER OF TVET TEACHERS (BY GENDER AND COUNTY)

County Total Male

Montserrado 171 124 73% 47 27%

Margibi 166 146 88% 20 12%

Nimba 60 47 78% 13 22%

Grand Gedeh 32 28 88% 4 13%

Lofa 20 12 60% 8 40%

Sinoe 17 15 88% 2 12%

Bomi 15 13 87% 2 13%

Grand Cape Mount 13 10 77% 3 23%

Gbarpolu 5 4 80% 1 20%

River Cess 5 2 40% 3 60%

Bong 2 2 100% 0 0%

Grand Bassa 1 1 100% 0 0%

Total 507 404 80% 103 20%

APPENDIX 5: ALTERNATIVE BASIC EDUCATION & ACCELERATED LEARNING PROGRAM

As of last year (2014 – 2015), the Annual Census has been expanded to include the alternative education system.

Two alternative education programs have been operating in Liberia in recent years: Alternative Basic Education and the Accelerated Learning Program. Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) compresses 6 years of formal primary education into 3 years and the Alternative Basic Education (ABE) offers a 3 year non formal educational program in which learners participate in literacy, numeracy, and livelihood skills training. Both ALB and ABE accommodate children, youth and adult learners. The Ministry of Education has been reviewing and harmonizing the two curricula, and current planning is expected to result in new alternative education programs being rolled out, that continue to build on the ALP and ABE programs.

FIGURE. PERCENTAGE OF ALP AND ABE SCHOOLS

Deviating from the trend of higher enrollment numbers as compared to 2014 (for example in year on year comparisons for primary and high schools between 2013-14 and 2015-16), compared to the previous Census period when ALP enrollment stood at 4,533 students, ALP enrollment has declined to 2,645 students (a decline of

45.62%). ABE shows a slight increase of 292 students. The fluctuation in enrollment numbers may be influenced by the fact that the last Census was the first data collection cycle for ALP and ABE students. It is likely that the changing numbers of students also reflects the conclusion of major development partner support for alternative education.

Public, 124, 73%

Private, 33, 20%

Mission, 9, 5% Community, 4, 2%

% of alternative education schools by ownership

TABLE. ALP AND ABE ENROLLMENT BY OWNERSHIP

Ownership ALP ABE Total

Public 1,390 7,010 8,400

Private 884 2,575 3,459

Mission 120 734 854

Community 71 216 287

Total 2,465 10,535 13,000

Unlike other parts of the education sector, there are more female than male students in alternative education.

There are significantly more females than males in ALP schools and overall the gender ratio in ALP and ABE schools is 58 females to 52 males.

TABLE. ENROLLMENT IN ABE & ALP SCHOOLS (BY GENDER)

661 teachers mean that there are approximately twenty students to each teacher for these two programs.

TABLE. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION TEACHERS

Ownership ALP ABE Total

Public 63 383 446

Private 41 129 170

Mission 10 22 32

Community 1 12 13

Total 115 546 661

1,106

4,415

1,359

6,120

- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

ALP

ABE

Male and Female Enrollment in ABE/ ALP schools

Female Male

APPENDIX 6: ENROLLMENT TREND ANALYSIS

A. CONTEXT

EMIS coverage has expanded rapidly in Liberia to nearly complete coverage of all public, primary, community and mission schools by 2015 - 16. However, the rapid increase in the number of schools being covered makes it difficult to track changes in overall enrollment. The expanding scope and increasing response rate means that any analysis in change over time needs to differentiate between a rise in enrollment due to an increase in census coverage, or due to a rise in actual enrollment from year to year.

For example, EMIS 2013 - 14 reported primary enrollment for the period as 426,629 (with 3,859 schools reporting).

In 2015 - 16, reported primary enrollment stands at 655,049 (with 5,177 schools reporting) – an increase of

53.54%. However, this increase in enrollment could be influenced by at least three factors:

1. the number of schools reporting their enrollment numbers may have increased by up to 1,318 (or 34.15%);

2. an increased number of students may have enrolled when schools re-opened after Ebola epidemic; and/or

3. access to education may have improved over time.

In an attempt to identify any trends in enrollment and improvements in access to education, schools that were part of all four censuses were isolated and their enrollment numbers were tracked over the period. It is important to note that these schools may not be representative of all the schools in the country, as these are the schools that have consistently returned their census forms each year. Moreover, only public schools have data available for the entire duration. However, this data provides us with the best assessment of enrollment changes that we have.

B. DATA

5,177 public primary schools had enrollment data available for 2015 - 16. Tracking them across years using the unique school identifier assigned to them by the EMIS team, 3,657 of the schools from the 2015 - 16 census also had enrollment data available for 2013 - 14 (attrition of 1,520 schools). The attrition for 2012 - 13 was 1,149 schools and finally the attrition for 2011 - 12 was 1,097 schools, leaving 1,411 public schools with primary enrollment data for all four years (2011-12 – 2015-16).

TABLE. PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ANNUAL SCHOOL CENSUS (2011 - 12 to 2015 - 16)

Year 2015 - 16 2013 - 14 2012 - 13 2011 - 12

Schools in Annual Census 5177 3859 2785 1601

Observations for tracking 3657 2508 1411

% of schools in the census 0.9477 0.9005 0.8813

C. ANALYSIS

Tracking enrollment across these 1,411 schools (which constitute 27% of all primary schools returning the 2015 -

16 Census) for these four years shows a very different picture from the usual gradual increase in enrollment that is evident in most developing countries. Enrollment suffers a drop of 6.43% between 2011 – 12 to 2012 - 13. Data was collected in May during both periods and so it is difficult to pinpoint why such a fall in enrollment should occur. However, we have evidence from communities and local surveys to suggest that public schools started increased fees during the 2013 – 14 school year for sports and Parent Teacher Association meetings and this may have led to a decline in enrollment. Enrollment declines again between 2012 - 13 and 2013 - 14 by 14.01%. Data was collected two months after the start of Ebola. The possible risk of infection may have meant that some families were already hesitant to send their children to school. The data collection team vividly recall seeing teachers and students wearing gloves – particularly in regions where the virus struck first. We recover to almost 2011 – 12 levels by 2015 - 16.

TABLE. PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FOR 1,411 PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM 2011 – 12 to 2015 - 16

Year 2011 - 12 2012 - 13 2013 - 14 2015 - 16 Schools

Primary Enrollment 183,734 171,918 147,835 183,514 1,411

% change

-6.43% -14.01% 24.13%

It is easier to see this change graphically as a V shaped curve emerges with two periods of decline followed by a rapid rise in enrollment post Ebola epidemic.

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