The Vice President of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) is calling on the Liberian Government to ensure an enabling environment for students in Liberia.
Attorney Bowoulo T. Kelley made the call when she served as keynote speaker at the 10th graduation exercise of the Weltona Christian High School in Paynesville City.
She reminded the Liberian Government that the right to quality education is a fundamental right that is protected in national and international human rights instruments which the state is under obligation to implement. “Education, a redemptive tool for transformation in Liberia,” the learned lawyer observed.
Attorney Kelley maintained that poverty should never be an obstacle to citizens obtaining education especially in a country with so much resources.
According to the AFELL Vice President, the state must ensure that the next generation is well situated by providing an enabling environment where youths will be eager to learn and apply the skills acquired.
Addressing the over two hundred graduates, Atty. Kelley congratulated the students for remaining steadfast in their studies for twelve years; saying this has brought joy to their parents in the midst of numerous challenges.
She recounted “For instance, most parents barely have the resources to support their children in school. It is no secret that majority of the public and some private institutions in both the rural and urban areas are lacking the basic instructional materials and trained staff to adequately perform their duties, thereby decreasing the student’s capacity to compete with their counter parts in other regions of the world, and convincingly defend their diplomas locally.”
“Despite all of these daunting challenges especially within the educational sector and the home space, some of our youths like you have proven to be determined by going against the odds with the full support of your parents, in pursuit of academic excellence at one of the premier institutions of learning in Liberia,” she said.
Atty. Kelly added, “Another challenge is that the formal education being acquired by this generation is experiencing shock in relation to the informal one. Consequently, when youths leave the walls of high school, their interactions with the larger society tend to have an impact on the application of the formal education. Interactions with society that have lost basic human values and dignity coupled with the lack of respect for fundamental human rights.”
“A society where systems are nonexistent or existing ones ignored to accommodate the desires of the powers that be and other so-called elites. A society that has presented a stage where ill prepared and uneducated individuals will opt for elective positions, riding on the ignorance of our people for their personal gains. A society where there is no motivation for education as we see college graduates languishing the streets in search for jobs and other areas where they can apply the skills learn,” she lamented.
She however called on the graduates to remain focus despite these challenges, saying education remains the vital redemptive tool for transformation in the society.
