The More for Education Coalition Partners, a coalition of civil society organisations, has raised serious concerns about the approved budget for the education sector in Liberia. The group of CSOs is pushing for an increment of the allocation to education to no less than 20% of the budget. Citing the example of neighbouring countries, reports show that Sierra Leone invests 27% of its budget in education while Ghana and Senegal each allocate 35% of their budgets to education. These facts were part of the coalition’s call for the government to increase its proposed allocation for education.

In a press release, the representative of the coalition, Anderson Miamen, said, ‘Given that the national budget for this fiscal year, 2019/20, has suffered an 8% decrease from US$570.14 million in financial year 2018/19, to US$525 million, the percentage increment for education to 15.8% leaves a lot to be desired as it translates into US$83.4 million, a US$1.9 million decline when compared to the US$85.3 million allocation for financial year 2018/2019. Taken on a regional scale, Liberia’s funding to education lags far behind regional neighbours’.

The coalition representative said that it is time for ideas and resources to be harnessed if government wants the educational sector to thrive and experience significant improvements. Therefore, the government need to seriously invest adequately into the educational sector to make it get to its desirable height.

The coalition’s members are the Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (COTAE), the National Parents and Teachers Association of Liberia (NAPTANOL), Youth Coalition for Education in Liberia (YOCEL), Inclusive Development Initiative (IDI) and the National Teachers Association of Liberia (NTAL).

Source: Front Page Africa

Photo source: Waldec