By Evelyn T. Kpadeh
MONROVIA
The student registration process for the upcoming school year has been marked by poor turnout as many cash-strapped Liberian parents struggle to raise school fees.
"I have six children: two in universities, two in senior high and two in primary," Zeland Zally, a 43-year-old registrar at a private school, told The Anadolu Agency.
"I don't have a cent to pay school fees now," she lamented.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced earlier this month that schools would reopen on Feb. 2 after months of delay following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, which in recent months has killed 3,605 people in Liberia alone.
According to Liberia's academic calendar, schools – including universities and vocational schools – should open in September and close in June.
Had it not been for Ebola, schools would have opened as usual last September and, by now, the country would be four months into the academic year.
The government has announced that school registration would begin on Jan. 19 and run for only five days.
The delay in opening schools has left Zally – and many others working for private schools – with no source of income for months, forcing them to seek other means of employment.
Now days into the registration process, she does not have any savings with which to pay her children's school tuition fees.
"During normal times, our income cannot commensurate with our daily expenditures; Ebola has just made it worse," Zally lamented. "Ebola made us focus more on buying food and medicine."
In recent months, Ebola – a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure – has killed 8,641 people, mostly in West Africa, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on Jan. 21.
In Liberia alone, the deadly virus has claimed a total of 3,605 lives.
"I have six children to put through school, but from the look of things, they may likely not go to school this year," Edwin Moore, a 31-year-old unemployed father, told AA.
"I am disappointed that the government has announced the reopening of schools when we have just come out of the Ebola crisis, when everything in the country went bad," he fumed.
Moore lost one of his legs to a motor accident in 2013, which has made life even more challenging for him.
"For those of us who do not have the means of raising money for our children's tuition, this means that our children are out of the entire educational process this year," he lamented.
Moore hopes the government will extend help to underprivileged parents.
"If the Education Ministry feels it is the right time to open schools, they need to… help us, the poor," he insisted.
Although he appreciates the move, Moore believes that the government's offer of free tuition for all public schools – from kindergarten to junior high – is not enough.
"Free school, yes – but the children need uniforms, shoes, book bags, transportation and food," he said. "With my disabilities and having no job, how do I send them to this free school?"
Moore also worries about the lack of space at public schools, especially after the government ordered that every class contain a maximum of 35 students.
He is a resident of Paynesville, one of Monrovia's largest municipalities. Paynesville has an estimated population of over 600,000 but only one public school.
"Because of Ebola, all schools are to take not more than 35 students per class. So what happens to us who may not have the money to get other school materials for our children before the 35-per-class is recorded by the school?" Moore asked.
He wants international organizations to help less fortunate children obtain equal education – both during and after the Ebola crisis.
Ghost schools
Many of the school campuses visited by AA in capital Monrovia were almost empty. School administrators sat with their doors wide open, but seemed to wait in vain for students or parents.
Typically, school campuses in Liberia would be bustling with students and parents registering for the upcoming academic year.
"Parents are coming in very slowly, but we hope it will get better," Rev. Isaac Zally, principal of the R.C. Lawson Institute, told AA.
They have not yet registered up to 25 percent of their students.
In previous academic years, the school had a total enrollment of over 300 students.
Another school in the suburb of Paynesville, Kids Crest Day Care, appeared no better off.
Since the commencement of the registration process, the school has seen only seven parents register their children.
"The number of parents visiting my office for registration is not encouraging, but I can't do anything but pray they will come," Fatu Roulhace, the 51-year-old school proprietress, told AA.
"There are people came to collect our information, but I am sure they will come back to register their children," she hoped.
Roulhace added that, due to poor attendance and numerous complaints from parents, the school had decided to accept tuition fees in installments.
The Christ the King Catholic School has done much better, registering about 500 students so far.
"The registration process is fine," Andrews Duo, the 54-year-old principal of the school, told AA. "We know it will improve, because we aren't yet one week into registration."
Although the government has announced that it would distribute Ebola awareness materials to nearly 5,000 schools nationwide, most schools are not waiting.
Some schools have begun obtaining Ebola-prevention materials while putting other systems in place to ensure students' safety.
This includes the purchase of thermometers and containers for chlorinated water for the regular washing of hands.
