Government is contemplating on instituting a lawsuit against a construction company (name withheld) for failure to live up to its own commitment, thereby bringing the State to public ridicule.
Education Minister Dao Ansu Sonii who made the disclosure to the media yesterday in Monrovia said the government is consulting lawyers to take up the matter with the company, which is still yet unknown.
He said, before announcing the first winner of the Presidential Best Teacher Award last year in the country, a construction company called to the Ministry and promised to make a flat or apartment available to the winner.
Sonii said the Ministry accepted the gesture in good faith because the company was not coerced or induced by any official within the Ministry, but made the pledge of its own volition, which then prompted him (the Minister) and others from the Ministry to visit the company’s office for acquaintance.
But to their utmost surprise, when the program was held and the winner was announced, the company declined to honor its own commitment.
Sonii stated that the company has made mockery of the Ministry, which does not augur well because nobody forced it to make such commitment, but what is not known is whether such failed promises warrant legal action, as is being suggested.
However, this year’s winner of the Presidential Best Teacher Award shall receive L$ 2 million, an improvement on the 1 million prize money from last year. Sonii said the committee responsible for this year’s program is chaired by Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) and is receiving application from applicants for the award, which is expected to be held on Monday, August 24 of this year.
Meanwhile, Education Ministry is calling on parents and guardians not to cooperate with any school’s administration or authority that charges their child or children above the approved stipulated fee of US$100 for private and L$5, 000 for public school graduation this year.
It stated that parents and guardians doing so, shall be at their own risk. They are asked to report such schools to the county or district education officers throughout the country, who have been mandated to work alongside both private and public school administrators to implement the mandate.
About the resumption of academic programming for 2023/24, Sonii indicated that the registration process shall begin Friday, August 4, while classes start on Tuesday, September 1.
